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Feed of posts on WordPress.com tagged "r2r2r"Sun, 18 Feb 2018 05:23:42 +0000https://en.wordpress.com/tags/enhttps://traillegs.wordpress.com/go/weekend-trips/moving-on-from-failure-my-r2r2r-experience/
Thu, 23 Nov 2017 22:31:39 +0000taerilynnhttps://traillegs.wordpress.com/go/weekend-trips/moving-on-from-failure-my-r2r2r-experience/It’s taken me a while to be able to write about my experience running in the Grand Canyon. Whenever I’ve been asked about it, I’ve been saying “Oh yeah, it was fine, didn’t quite make it, but still a good time” and then quickly changing the subject.

Talking about success is uncomfortable for me. Turns out, talking about failure is just as difficult.

Last month (October 21st-24th) I met up with a gal whom I met when I was travelling in Nepal earlier in the year and a few of her friends for an epic long weekend filled with camping and trail running. Three of us were planning to run the notorious “Rim to Rim to Rim” while the other two would be our support crew and get in some day hiking.

The R2R2R route involves ~50 miles and ~10,000 ft elevation gain & running down the South Rim (we opted for the Bright Angel trail for both descent and return) across the canyon, up to the North Rim, and back. It’s not a race or an organized event, just a personal challenge for many trail runners.

We flew into Phoenix on the 21st and camped that night at the Mather campground and planned to be at the trailhead by 4:00 am the following morning. We organized our hydration packs and trail clothes and went to bed early in anticipation of the 3:30 am wake up call. Despite the cold air and my anxiety I actually slept fairly well. We were on time and started running in the dark just after 4:00 am. I was expecting some kind of epic sunrise but it really wasn’t, the day crept up on us quickly without painting the sky orange or red.

After the descent into the canyon when we were on relatively flat terrain, I quickly realized my two trail running friends were in way better shape than me. It wasn’t a competition for any of us, we had no time goals – but I still felt stressed about keeping up with the pace and not wanting to let anyone down. I only continued to struggle with each mile, questioning if I would even make it. I wasn’t sure if I was allowing fear to get in my way, or if I really wasn’t physically able to finish the R2R2R that day.

Several miles after Phantom Ranch I decided it just wasn’t my day, and I proposed that the other two girls continue on without me, and wherever I was on the trail when they turned around from the North Rim we would meet up and run back together. It took some convincing but eventually we were all in agreement and made a plan.

Knowing that you aren’t going to finish the goal you set for yourself stings. I would have to tell my friends and my parents that I didn’t make it. Would they be disappointed ? I failed. Am I really even a trail runner anymore? Why are my friends faster and stronger than me? Am I not dedicated enough? What happens afterwards, when everyone is celebrating their accomplishment? I would be forever analyzing what went wrong, what should I have done that day, or in the days/weeks/months leading up to it. I had a lot of questions for myself along with a lot of emotions… and many hours on the trail alone to sort through it all.

By this time, it was hot out but not unbearably so. I had slowed down even more, running and walking, taking lots of pictures and eating snacks. I took a detour off the main trail when I noticed a sign pointing to Ribbon Falls. I wasn’t going to conquer the North Rim, but I still had a chance to see something cool. Spending time at the falls really helped turn my day around, I sat in behind the beautiful waterfall for a while and let everything sink in.

Fast forward a bunch of hours/miles later – I was reunited with my friends after they had successfully made it up and down the North Rim. I really was excited for them and proud, even though I didn’t make it. We ran together and we all felt pretty good, until about halfway up the ascent up Bright Angel. The sun was starting to go down and after 10+ hours of being on the trail the elevation felt grueling. Well, grueling for me. My two friends who basically did DOUBLE the elevation gains compared to me, were not struggling. The negative feelings about my physical fitness that I had left behind at the waterfalls, came back in a rush. Eventually we made it back up where our other friends were waiting with chips, beer, and a change of clothes.

We spent the night at a hotel in Flagstaff where we could take a hot shower and get a better sleep. We slept in the following morning while the other two girls did a day hike up Humphrey’s Peak (the tallest mountain in AZ). We left Flagstaff that afternoon and found a campsite in Sedona and relaxed at Slide Rock State Park. The next morning we got up for sunrise at the Airport and did a short hike to the Airport Vortex, before driving back into Phoenix to catch our flight home.

****

No one in my social network really cares that I didn’t finish. Everyone seems to think it was cool that I even tried. I’m the only one beating myself up over it.

Last week I heard about Cat Bradley, she had just completed the FKT (Fastest Known Time) for running the R2R2R with an impressive time of 7 hours and 52 minutes. Insane. She is a super human in my books. What I didn’t know at the time, it was her third attempt at R2R2R. She too had a bad day and didn’t complete it once before.

I know I’ll never achieve elite trail running status. I probably won’t ever even be at the front of the pack within my local trail running club. But it was still comforting in some way, to realize that even the super human athletes experience failure once in a while.

Maybe one day I’ll attempt the R2R2R again…………. ?

****

Anyways, this is what worked:

Dressing light

It was a cold morning and I was shivering before I started running. I’m someone who heats up quickly, and I was warm in no time. I was thankful I didn’t wear so many layers, because I would have had no where to stuff my clothes and it would have been uncomfortable. I was wearing Lulu lemon shorts, calf sleeves, and a tank top. My friend loaned my some running gloves but in hindsight, they really weren’t necessary

Food

I was really nervous about bonking (which I pretty much did, but it wasn’t due to lack of fuel). I brought a variety of snacks with me including chocolate covered nuts, dried fruit, goldfish crackers, Probars, and a few gels. I don’t really care for gels but I’ll keep some on hand just in case.

Water

I use a Salomon S-lab hydration back, the bladder holds 1.5L of water and I can carry two flasks in the front pockets. My friends had larger hydration packs, so I was worried I wouldn’t have enough water. However there are enough spots on the trail to fill up, anything larger than a 1.5L bladder wouldn’t have mattered.

Better luck next time:

My Headlamp.

I put in what I believed to be fresh batteries the night before, but my lamp was pretty dull in the dark and it was frustrating. I suspect the batteries I used weren’t actually brand new/fully charged.

Electrolytes

Every time I do anything, I forget one thing. On this trip, it was my Nuun tablets. Thankfully my friends remembered and gave me some. Lukewarm water in a hydration bladder can be unappealing and Nuun tablets really help.

Training

I could go on and on about everything I would do in the future to be better prepared physically. I won’t get detailed here, just know that there would be a lot I would do differently.

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Tue, 21 Nov 2017 05:59:21 +0000Matt Gibblehttps://myworldstandingstill.com/go/uncategorized/r2r2r-endeavor-in-the-grand-canyon-part-two/This is Part Two of R2R2R – For Part One click here!

Monday morning, six days from the R2R2R run date my legs felt sorer than I had hoped they would. Not surprising, but not confidence inspiring either. My hope after a 10 miler and 8 miler over the weekend was that it would “shock my system” and serve as a wake-up call that there was still some work to be done yet this year.

With only a short run scheduled Wednesday I went about getting my mental game together. I bought a NatGeo Trails Illustrated map of the Canyon so I could get a visual overview of the trails. I double checked information from the very helpful Facebook group Grand Canyon R2R2R Run! for the latest water information from people that had run the route over the previous weekend. The weather forecast looked to be ideal.

I spent some time in a favorite activity which is my best indicator of current level of focus; putting arrows into a paper target with my Samick Sage recurve bow. I felt that the mental preparation would be critical toward success. Mahting and I had already discussed that negative talk would not be allowed during the run; get busy and get focused. I felt that from a safety standpoint this was vitally important.

North Rim and trail

Good groups indicate a focused mind

Mahting and his wife, and my family and myself all flew out of Denver for Phoenix at 7:00am Saturday morning. We drove a rental in a leisurely fashion to the South Rim and arrived just at sunset. After looking down into the canyon we checked into our respective abodes and met for dinner at Bright Angel Lodge.

Following dinner as we walked out of the lodge we saw two women hobbling and listing a bit. “Have you just run R2R2R?”

“Yes”, came the reply, and then a comment that it was harder than they thought it would be. We proffered congratulations, and this confirmed much of what I’d read from completers of the effort. As I walked toward my room I was slightly envious that they were done.

I gathered my things in my pack and laid everything out on the floor. Scheduled departure from South Kaibab trailhead was 0400. Mahting would pick me up at 0345 and his wife would drop us at SK.

It’s all stuffed and ready to go.

I didn’t sleep very well after initially crashing. The little monkeys in my head had me double checking my list and day ahead. I really wanted to be 10 miles into the thing and started.

Up at 0305 for two cups of coffee, other necessary morning duties and at 0400 precisely we had our photo taken at the South Kaibab trailhead. A slight hitch came as Mahting realized he left his watch back at the hotel. We started Strava apps on our phones but packed them away. Off we walked and soon began bobbing down the trail under a clear, starry, crescent moonlit sky.

The strategy was ultra conservative on the initial descent for safety sake and preserving our quads from the stressful eccentric contractions that result in tearing up muscle fibers. We stopped a few times to look at the awesome vastness of the sky from below the rim. It was almost a blessing not seeing the grandeur of the canyon and task that lie ahead of us. At this point, little step by step chunks seemed enough for us.

Below the cutoff to Tonto Trail we spied a light but had no idea where it was coming from. A few minutes later I said, “Hey, there’s a bunch of lights down there”.

Mahting chuckled and replied, “Yeah, there are two lights. When all you see is black for a period of time I guess two seems like a bunch.”

We quickly arrived at the Black Bridge and crossed the Colorado River in the dark. Soon thereafter we encountered a hiker looking out toward the river. In short order we were coming into Phantom Ranch and there was pre-dawn activity of campers walking back to Bright Angel Campground and what seemed like Phantom Ranch employees beginning their day. We had to ask where the water was and did a lap around the canteen until we found it. Dawn was threatening but we still needed headlamps as we began to knock out the 14 miles to the North Rim.

For the next seven miles, I was pleasantly surprised at how good the trail was. While it was rising in elevation it was completely runnable and I felt every mile we could run was a mile we didn’t need to powerhike. Four hours and 14 miles in we stopped at the Ribbon Falls area to mix some Tailwind in our bottles and double check the map. I commented that after we covered our next 14 miles, we would be at this exact spot. I’m not sure if that was daunting or encouraging.

By the time we came to Manzanita we had pulled out our trekking poles to get over the little “humps” and then swoop on the downhills until we hit a little uphill again. We were able to chat with some backpackers at this water stop who had knowledge of the trail from the north rim. We were just over five miles from the north rim trailhead and one said it was a bit of a grind until we got to Supai tunnel. We loaded up on water hoping not to need it again until we came back to this spot in just over 10 miles.

We began the chug away from Manzanita and Mahting was easily powering away from me on the uphill sections. A few miles before I had begun to feel a little less than stellar. Part of the problem was lower abdominal pain. My lower abs are my weakness and I felt I had given a little back during the two week layoff, even with doing some plank work and dolphin yoga poses during my period of inactivity. Additionally, I ate a little bit too much on the travel day Saturday so there was a little bit stress from that. But we pushed along, shuffling and jogging along on the occasional flat sections of trail. It became evident that the push to the north rim trailhead would be a grind.

We took a quick break at Supai tunnel and the last 1.7 miles to the top was quite nice. We began seeing people both dayhiking and backpacking down from the rim and this was a nice spirit lifter for both of us. We topped out at exactly 7 hours into the day at 11:00am. We didn’t dally long as the gnats were horrendous and we had plenty of water to make it back to Manzanita. The weather was overcast and the temps were perfect. We could not have asked for a better day.

As we now ran back toward the canyon bottom I hit my high point of the day. At 24 miles everything felt good from foot to head. The trail was good, the views were awesome and barring emergency we were going to finish. How else would we get back to the south rim?

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We filled water again at Manzanita and made off for Phantom Ranch nine miles away. Through here Mahting’s knee began to give him some fits, so I set pace and we cruised along. We passed by Ribbon Falls again and at this point the biggest challenge was the water bars. At points they seem like they are two feet off the trail and I continually had to assess whether I stepped over them or bounced off the top of them. Again and again, either way I wanted to get over them without tripping. At one point I commented that I didn’t feel it was necessary to parkour in order to get over the highest water bars, but after 30ish miles it sure felt like I was doing that.

Amazingly, it’s not all steep on North Kaibab, at times it levels out nicely for a change in terrain.

Somewhere just before Phantom Ranch I made a comment that I hoped would not bite me in the ass. I told my running pal that after ten hours I felt I could make an assessment on R2R2R. The run was not turning out to be as difficult as I had imagined it would be. Now, lest anyone reading this thinks “Hey, sweet, I can easily do this crazy thang!” let me explain. Our weather was perfecto. The trails were clear of any potential winter detritus. The sun never shone brightly, keeping temperatures in the 60’s or maybe low 70’s for highs midday in the canyon. I can’t remember there being any significant wind. There were enough people on the trails to keep our spirits high but not so many that we felt it impeded our pace. Finally, we went super conservative on pace. We never stopped for long, but we also never ran too fast. Granted, we didn’t get full appreciation for the sights of the canyon because we were fairly focused on good foot touches all day long and the sun didn’t present us with the brilliant colors off the rocks because of the cloudy conditions.

I had estimated that we’d make Phantom Ranch at 2:30 and when we came in I grabbed my phone and it was right on the nose! Sweet! We grabbed some candy bars, pretzels, lemonade and settled into a nice snack time at a picnic table. With nine miles to head out of the canyon via Bright Angel we even laid back on the picnic benches to rest our eyes. We spent 30 minutes there and then headed up toward the south rim.

As we made way to depart, another runner that we’d seen earlier heading to the north rim caught and passed us. We met him again shortly where he was filling water at a spigot below Bright Angel Campground. He had spent the whole day alone and asked if he could join us. Sure thing! The three of us journeyed on and took some photos crossing the silver bridge, with the turbulent green waters of the Colorado river coursing underneath our feet.

The first few miles were runnable here and we encountered a couple just off the trail. They seemed to be hiking, but the gentleman was laid out and did not look real well. Upon inquiring if they were okay, she said they were just going to the campground and that they would be fine. But when our third amigo, Mark, passed by them just after us, she said they were heading to Indian Garden, miles further and up! That sort of puzzled us and I’ve thought often about them, hoping they got on okay.

It brought up an interesting feeling for me. With 36 miles under foot at that point I was feeling fine, yet I’d been out there for a very long time already. It’s a little harder processing situations after that much time afoot. The reality of the canyon is that you accept quite the responsibility for yourself when you head down. If she had said, “Hey, we really need some help here.” I certainly would have stopped. But I don’t think I was in the state of mind to make an honest assessment of how they really were.

We had a DeLorme InReach for shooting off messages to our wives so they would know we were doing well and not in trouble. It also gave them coordinates with each message so they could see exactly where we were at. Had it been necessary we could have sent an SOS, heaven forbid. But since the run I’ve thought about people that climb Everest and pass by climbers that may literally be dying before their eyes. I cannot fathom what that must be like. I was grateful for having an emergency beacon/device with us, for I rarely head out without it anymore.

The remainder of the trek was perhaps a little anticlimactic. Put one foot in front of another. Keep moving. Keep eating. Keep drinking. We didn’t catch many more folks as most of the day trippers were out of the canyon. A mile from the top we donned the lights to finish in the dark, hitting the top 14 hours and 44 minutes after we started.

Mahting wondered whether we would really come back out to eat if we headed for showers at our respective lodging. Wisely, we opted to head right into Bright Angel Lodge for dinner with our wives. It was a wonderful way to end the day.

Mahting, left, thought he looked a little angry in this photo and that I just looked tired. Fact is, we were pretty glad to be done.

Come Monday I moved more gingerly and slowly than I ever have in my life, requesting help to get down off the curb at one point in the day! But it was all muscle damage. Neither of us suffered blisters and while Mahting had a tweaky knee and foot we were pretty well off considering what we’d done.

Some notes for those either doing this for the first time or even a 2nd time.

In my opinion it is wise to calculate and know how many calories per hour you will need and stick to a plan on fueling and drinking.

In the week before, begin making a concerted effort to hydrate the body. Especially if you are flying into the area from out of state.

Tailwind worked really well for Mahting and me. He used three PB&J’s in addition to Tailwind and I used primarily gels with the Tailwind plus some pretzels for solid food.

Pick a general pacing plan but don’t stress if it goes long on the outward leg. Taking into account it was two miles longer and we stopped for 30 minutes at Phantom Ranch we did negative splits coming back.

Not having GPS or watches on our wrists was very freeing. We moved by feel and trusted our bodies. It worked out great.

Strongly consider taking along either a Spot or InReach device. It provides tremendous peace of mind and it’s nice to be able to shoot off a pre-loaded text indicating to loved ones, friends or support that you are doing fine, maybe behind schedule but still fine or send a real time message if you are having problems or issues.

The Facebook group has all the information needed to do this and was an invaluable resource but was not overwhelming if you use the search function on the group page to find out the answers to the questions you might have!

Respect the canyon, prepare for it to be harder than anticipated but hope for it to be better than that. Be positive and know if will involve discomfort and some suffering. I felt, that given some unknowns around my downtime just before the run that I could always just hike out with my headlamp given that I do a lot of backpacking and hiking.

The sensation is intense, like needles being plunged in and out of nerve endings in the area of my left hamstring. I try to breathe through the burning, knowing this is not the worst pain I’ve ever felt. I attempt to relax my grip so as to become one with the discomfort.

It’s now Tuesday and I’m in the sixth day of a serious staph infection. I’d been to the ER on Sunday and even after numerous antibiotics and a now open 3.5 centimeter wound in my leg where they dug out pus and infection, an area from the back of my knee moving toward my hip is red, inflamed, taut and warm to the touch. A culture has indicated staph infection resulting in cellulitis. I have no idea how I picked this up, but it’s putting a serious kink in my activity level.

I’m 20 days away from running down into the Grand Canyon, up the other side to the north rim and a return trip to the south rim. It’s a trail run (not a race) that is known as Rim to Rim to Rim, or R2R2R. The route is 44.2 miles long with over 10,000 feet of elevation loss AND gain. Trail runners complete it as a sort of “rite of passage”.

I think I first heard about this when a friend of mine, many years younger, ran it for the first time in 2015. He then did it a second time in 2016. When I read about his account it was the first year that I had taken up running and backpacking. I believe I secretly thought to myself, “That is pretty darn impressive.” I probably googled around on the subject and quickly discovered that this was not something for the faint of heart.

Sometime in 2016 a client shared with me how she had also done R2R2R. I was helping her through an injury as she was preparing for another trail marathon up and down Pikes Peak. I was duly impressed that she, too, had conquered the Grand Canyon. Again, I investigated online about this demonic run, and again, realized that this was currently far beyond my physical capabilities. In 2016 I had done my 3rd and 4th trail half marathons, but less than ⅓ of the distance that would be required to complete the Grand Canyon run.

However, sometime last year I think I first voiced my secret desire to try and do this. I felt that the old biological clock was ticking and I needed to do it sooner rather than later. (I later found this not to be true, at least for me) I confided in my good friend and running partner, Mahting, but pretty much left it at that.

With a hole in the back of my leg vast enough to stick the entirety of my thumb into, it is necessary to have gauze stuffed into the wound on a daily basis. It’s called a wound, like I’ve been shot, or I have diabetes and I now need wound care. Gratefully, a good friend, who is a physician’s assistant has acquiesced in helping with the daily chore. Actually, she didn’t really acquiesce because when I asked for her help she replied, “Oh, you don’t need to twist my arm, I love pus!”. This was a statement that I found to be true of most nuts in the medical community. As a different medical professional shared with me, “We feel like we’re doing real good when we can take pus and infection out of a wound, because it happens right before our eyes.”

I’m now in my home as my friend changes the packing and my wife observes, somewhat aghast, hence the reason to recruit the friend to do such dirty work. “How soon before I can run, exercise, sweat, etc?” I ask.

“Matt”, she patiently replies, “I can see your hamstring, that is how deep the wound is. I don’t think you should be doing any running at this point.”

I begin to fully comprehend the severity of what has been going on with this infection and my leg. I’m fine with possibly not doing the Grand Canyon run and to be quite honest, maybe even a little relieved. I’m very grateful at this point for the medical community, their knowledge and expertise and the fact that if I lived in a different country, this could have been quite, quite serious. I begin to find peace in the fact that the run may not happen. But I decide that I won’t out and out cancel the trip. My whole family and Mahting and his wife are going as well. At the very least it will be a family vacation for four days.

One of the morose attractions of attempting R2R2R is the fact that people die in the Grand Canyon; a lot. Once dumping into the “Big Ditch” and beginning to cross to the other side there is no option of calling ones significant other and asking to be picked up. If there is an emergency it involves a Search and Rescue team and substantial financial resources in order for a person to be pulled out of the canyon. I read at an interpretive sign on the south rim that there are 250 rescues a year in the Grand Canyon. Upon investigation I find that there are rather interesting maps such as this one.

You can find out gory details around deaths in the canyon!

770 people have died in the Grand Canyon since John Wesley Powell and his crew made the first river exploration in 1869. On average 12 people die in the canyon each year by suicide, accidental falls, exposure, drowning, aviation accidents, rockfall and even mules falling on people. This ain’t no walk in the park folks.

I shared with a cycling and running friend earlier this year that Mahting and I were going to attempt to do this challenge. “You’re crazy! You’re going to hate the training involved, you’re going to hate the preparation and you’re going to hate actually doing it.” Gee, what a buzzkill.

In reality I enjoyed the training all summer and even the preparatory 40 mile Grand Traverse race that I had done over Labor Day weekend. But truth be told, I was running on fumes in preparing for this endeavor. I had archery hunted ten days in the month of September in weather that at times was snowy, foggy, rainy and cold. While I had succeeded in filling the freezer full of venison for our family, I had lost about five pounds over the course of the month. I was a little mentally burned out from a long year of running, hiking, camping, etc. I believe now that my body and immune system was effectively wrung out; creating a prime situation for a crazy bug to nab me.

I knew that I had all the base mileage I needed for the GC run, but I felt my remaining training was best invested in runs involving heavy elevation gains and losses. So I spent my time on the trails around Boulder, finding 5 mile loops that afforded me at least a thousand feet of vertical per lap. My last long run was to be five loops around Mt. Sanitas in Boulder. It would be about 27 miles with over 6800’ of elevation gain and loss. What typically has worked for me in past preparation for long endurance events has been topping out my training at 70% of the distance required. With the running, I try and match that number for the elevation as well. It worked fine for the Grand Traverse, so I was comfortable with the R2R2R preparation. And it was during the time after the Grand Traverse that this whole ultrarunning thing became much less mysterious and scary to me. At a point in the summer I had moved beyond the distance of 18 miles in my runs which had been a bit of a hurdle. My body had become accustomed to the steady tap of many hour runs and miles beyond 20 in a single shot. The body is amazing. And I’ve been fortunate to have a body that has always adapted well to hard work and long hours. I’ve also become wise enough in how my body works that at 52 I have much more confidence in my ability than I did 30 years ago. But the staph infection put its grip on me two days before that last long run which in fact would never materialize. I would not have the mental peace of mind that I had put in the proper physical preparation for the R2R2R.

However, I was at peace as to whether it was necessary to accomplish the feat this calendar year. I decided that if it wasn’t meant to be on November 12th, I would just come back in the spring and do it. On October 25th Mahting and I exchanged some messages about my predicament. I assured him I was still on for the trip and going to be doing something in the canyon and I was sure to be rested!

After just over two weeks of no running or physical activity related to exercise the gash in my leg had healed enough I felt that I needed to do a few runs to see what transpired. Eight days out from our run date in the canyon I drove to Boulder to do a few laps on Sanitas. With the music motivating me on the drive up I decided that this was going to happen. I couldn’t go into this with any doubts about completing the run. I just had to decide to do it. And at that point there was no turning back mentally. I was all in.

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Fri, 20 Oct 2017 17:29:39 +0000TaraDellhttps://taradelltells.com/go/running/running-rim-to-rim-to-rim/https://mauderunner.wordpress.com/go/running/grand-canyon-rim-to-rim-to-rim-october-6-2017/
Thu, 12 Oct 2017 20:14:28 +0000mauderunnerhttps://mauderunner.wordpress.com/go/running/grand-canyon-rim-to-rim-to-rim-october-6-2017/So, we did it! Heidi, Sarah, Wendy, and I completed the R2R2R on Friday. It’s now Sunday, and I’m finally starting to be able to pull my thoughts together enough to at least try to articulate what I experienced—from the never-ending vistas that just kept unfolding to the physical challenge, the jokes and hilarity we shared, and definitely the pain we all experienced too. (Update: It’s now Thursday … and maybe this will go up today. I’ve been sucked back into “real life” so quickly that time is flying.)

R2R2R was fun, amazing, horrible, awesome, painful, all the things! I think I’m going to try to unpack this by parceling the experience by sections of the trails, but first I’ll share the list of feedback we developed for the NPS. Developing this list was unendingly funny to us: you know, funny in that way that only an intense shared group experience can create. I had that on a two-week backpacking trip in the Sierras with my brother and two of his friends back in college, where we still quote some pieces from the Mad Libs we did on that trip. I hope some of the ones from the Grand Canyon stick as long.

The Phantom Ranch canteen hours really need to be expanded. We came through too early for snacks and caffeine in the morning, and we came in too late for anything in the evening. Boo!

Phantom Ranch

The NPS should allow Amazon Prime drone orders to be delivered in the canyon. They’d make a killing on a cut of the take: We would have paid a premium for an ice-cold Coke our second time through Phantom Ranch.

They may not realize it, but they’ve done a poor job of housekeeping on the lower parts of the Bright Angel Trail. I mean, really, they’ve let the sand build up to several inches deep! And that SUCKED after close to 40 miles. Some serious trail work with a broom is desperately needed!

Bright Angel Trail—the dreaded sandpit!

Why don’t they have emergency mule service? Like 1-800-MULE-CAB? They could make a killing on that too.

Back to the Phantom Ranch canteen—they have beer but no sodas? What’s up with that?!

Thumbs up on the ventilated, very clean composting toilets that are spaced every few miles, along with the potable spring water nearly as frequently provided.

For me, doing R2R2R was a goal—but perhaps more of a dream, because “goal” sounds like something you check off and this was more something that fed my heart and soul—for a couple of years. I don’t really remember when I first heard of people running it, but once I did it stuck. And last year, when my friends and I started talking about focusing on going on great adventures with great friends rather than always looking for something with a race bib and timer, I brought this up as an option. Over the spring and summer, it started firming up, and then a Facebook event page was created, and then we booked plane tickets, and then all of a sudden it was time to go do it!

R2R2R Background

R2R2R basically means you start at one side of the Grand Canyon, go down to the bottom, go up the other side, and then turn around and go right back down and then up to the side you started on. We decided to start on the South Rim, descending the South Kaibab Trail, going up the North Kaibab Trail to the North Rim, and then back down the North Kaibab Trail and up the Bright Angel Trail. This involves some 47ish miles and somewhere in the range of 11,000–12,000 feet of gross elevation gain and loss.

Some people run all or most of it, and complete it in very short order. The current fastest known time (FKT) for the full R2R2R is 5 hours, 55 minutes, and 20 seconds. It would be awesome to be able to run like that! We finished in just under 20 hours, and I’m not sure I would call it a run: Sure we wore our trail runners, and we used our running packs, and we did run parts, but we also did a lot of “purposeful hiking.” No shame there, but for those for whom technicalities matter I want to be clear that it’s hard for me to call this a run even though I’ll refer to it as a run throughout.

Preparation: Thursday, October 5, Phoenix to Grand Canyon Village

We started the day with a quick shake-down run in South Mountain Park, on a trail that started just outside the door of our condo. It was good to move after packing and traveling most of the day before.

After a quick trip to REI because someone couldn’t find her sunglasses when she was packing (yep, that’d be me—doh!), and a yummy breakfast at Biscuits (I totally recommend them if you’re in Phoenix), we packed up the rental car and started heading north. For lunch, we detoured to Sedona (gorgeous!) and started some new dreams looking at the trails there … but no, we had to focus on this trip’s objective first! We drove up the lovely Oak Creek Canyon, and then after running into some road construction that delayed us by 15 or 20 minutes, we were back on the main highway. We stopped in Williams to stock up on food and got a kick out of the Route 66 signs. We finally arrived at Grand Canyon Village right at sunset.

Classic Sedona

Grand Canyon sunset: that oh-my-gawd moment when you remember just how striking and BIG this place is!

With four of us trying to sort gear and make decisions about food, clothing layers, emergency supplies (read: 10 essentials), and water, every surface in our hotel room at the Maswick Lodge was covered. How many calories would we need? What would appeal and what would we be able to eat during the run? What clothes would we need with a temperature range of 36 degrees in the morning and 85 to 90-plus degrees in the afternoon? There were some hilarious moments as we found, lost, and then refound stuff we had laid out on the beds, but we finally got it together and were in bed around 10 p.m.

Alarms rang at 3 a.m., and we got ready pretty efficiently. We had the phone number for a taxi service that runs in Grand Canyon Village, and the taxi picked us up right at our planned 3:45 to take us to the trailhead. Our taxi driver was a bit odd, but he got us to our destination at 3:59 a.m. (We were one minute early—a miracle!) When we asked the taxi driver to take our picture, he said no, he had another call waiting for him, and he took off. Hmmmph! Fortunately, a couple walked up just then, and we got our preadventure group picture after all.

A little sleepy but ready to go at the South Kaibab Trailhead

To us city-dwellers, it was dark-dark out, but once our eyes adjusted the harvest moon illuminated the outlines of the canyon and various formations as we descended. There was lots of whooping and hollering, we were so excited to finally be on the trail!

Waterbars at night do not make for easy running

Night sky and hints of the canyon rim

Moon on one horizon, sunrise on the other

Beauty shot

It was such a thrill to see the Colorado River as the sun rose, realizing we were close to our first major milestone of the trip. After another 20 (or 30? or 40? or 500?) switchbacks we crossed the Colorado River on the Black Bridge.

The river is brownish from the sediment it carries downstream and flowing fast. There are plenty of signs suggesting that trying to swim in it is a really bad idea. My National Geographic map warns that “Swimming [in the Colorado River] can be fatal.” Guess I’ll skip that adventure!

As I look back on it, I think I found South Kaibab to be more challenging than I had anticipated. I’m the one who loves letting loose on the downhills, right?, but it was steep, with lots of waterbars and rocks, and I know I was being conservative because I was worried about getting injured so early into the adventure. It was also kind of emotional, because it marked the first leg of the adventure that I had dreamed about for so long, and there were times when I couldn’t help but stop and soak it in, thinking, “We’re finally really doing this!!!”

After crossing the Colorado, it was a quick scamper down the trail to Bright Angel campground. The campground sits along the banks of Bright Angel Creek, just upstream from where it joins the Colorado River. We’d be following Bright Angel Creek for much of the next portion of our journey. After our first water refill of the day, and a quick stop in the fully plumbed bathroom, we turned toward North Kaibab Trail and Phantom Ranch.

I loved seeing Phantom Ranch; it’s been kind of mysterious and “far away” since I had first visited the Grand Canyon with my mom on a mother-daughter trip some 20+ years ago. It’s actually not that exciting of a place, but I enjoyed the resident deer nibbling on the ranch’s trees and grass … especially this determined one who was using the fence designed to protect the trees as a way to reach the tree’s apparently yummy leaves.

Colorado River to North Rim via the North Kaibab Trail (14.3 miles, net +5,790 feet)

The Grand Canyon isn’t a canyon that’s singular. Everywhere you go, new canyons appear, new features are exposed, and new springs and creeks pop up. For the next seven and a half miles we trekked along the cheery and gurgling Bright Angel Creek, which has carved its own subcanyon that veers away from the Colorado River to the northeast.

Bright Angel Creek

These seven-plus miles are a delight, with around a 1,000–2,000 feet gain spread over the distance. Bridges took us across the creek numerous times, and we encountered probably 30+ day hikers, backpackers, and trail runners along the way. We were able to see Ribbon Falls from the trail and decided to skip the side trip because we were behind schedule.

We refilled all our water bladders and flasks at Cottonwood Campground, prepping for the big climb as the sun (and the temps) continued to rise. The climbing is gradual at first, and slowly steepens toward Manzanita, which has water and a ranger facility, and then gets serious about ascending from there.

It’s really hard to put the climb to the climb up North Kaibab Trail up to the North Rim into any kind of coherent sequence or frame.

I remember marveling over the changing colors of the earth—reds, whites, blues, greens, oranges, blacks—not only on the cliffs towering above but even in the dirt of the trail. I’d hike on orange dirt, and then it’d turn black, and then white, and then orange again.

There were cliffs that I can’t even describe, towering above us and carved by wind and water over the millennia.

There were places where the trail was carved into the cliffside, with a huge drop on one side and more towering cliffs above us.

There was Roaring Springs, another place for water—which we foolishly skipped—where a spring-fed waterfall cascaded down the cliff across from us.

And there was heat, and sun, and I started to suffer. I was hot and starting to feel a little woozy and off kilter. With about four miles still to go before the top, I started to worry about whether my water would hold out. I tried to just keep plugging away, but with about two and a half miles to go, I called out to the rest of the group and sat down in the shade.

Friends are wonderful, and going on adventures with friends is wonderful. But, I think sometimes you realize the depth of the friendship you have with some people only when you’re at a dark moment. Heidi handed me a flask of Tailwind, Wendy gave me some gulps of water from her flask and some life-saving Sour Patch Kids (who knew? in “real life” I think those things are disgusting!), and I suddenly felt better.

In this section of trail, the earth is orange-red but above us the cliffs were a fascinating white striped with blacks, grays, and greens. This was one of my favorite features, so striking. We continued on and after another half mile or so, we hit our next landmark, the Supai Tunnel.

Just beyond the tunnel is another water fountain—hallelujah!—and we doused our OR ice sleeves in water, filled up again, and headed up. We hit our first mule train a few minutes later, but they passed us quickly, and we were quickly able to continue.

As we gained altitude on North Kaibab, we moved from cactus and manzanita to juniper trees and other high desert plants. In the last mile, we were surprised with the red and yellows of fall colors decorating aspen and maple trees.

As we climbed, I tried to avoid thinking “I’m almost there,” because as the canyon unfolds there seems to always be another layer to ascend that you couldn’t see before. But as the number of day hikers increased and the sky opened up again, I knew we had made it! We popped out at the trailhead of the North Rim and oohed and aahed over the views, ate some, and refilled water (although little was needed since we’d refilled only two miles previously).

Topping out on the North Rim

There’s a bit of a side story here too. Our friends, Angel and Tim Mathis, have a venture called Boldly Went. They host adventure storytelling forums, connect adventurers, and produce a weekly podcast, among many other related things. On our drive from Phoenix the day before, we had listened to a few episodes of the Boldly Went podcast. In one, Angel describe the term “yogi-ing”; it’s used by through-hikers (people going the full length of trails like the PCT or Appalacian Trail) to describe the subtle approach to bumming yummy snacks off other hikers. Well, at the North Rim, we encountered a couple of people who were supporting several R2R2Rers and who just happened to have a cooler of cold drinks. We decided to give yogi-ing a try, and managed to bum an ice-cold can of Coke from them. Seriously, this Coke—which the four of us shared—was the best thing in the universe.

Wendy texted this picture to Angel, celebrating our success with yogi-ing, and I texted my husband, Mike, with a progress update, and then we were off!

You would think that going downhill would be easier than up. In a way it is, but it also becomes grueling when you’re doing it for miles. My BD z-poles became crutches as I navigated hundreds of rock drops and water bars.

No trip hazard here!

We were now descending the same nearly 6,000 feet that we had climbed over the previous several hours. Our landmarks were the same, but they came up more quickly, and we focused on maintaining our fluids and food as we still had a long way to go. At a water stop at Manzanita, we signed the message board: HHRG R2R2R Wendy, Heidi, Sarah, Ellen. Who knows how long it will be there or who will see it?

After Cottonwood Campground, we had the seven and a half miles along the Bright Angel Creek to traverse again. Here, Sarah and I felt the urgency of the waning daylight and set getting to Phantom Ranch before needing headlamps as a goal. Sarah and I ran most of this section together. It was fun to run a bit and feel good, and the four of us did arrive at Phantom Ranch without needing to don the headlamps.

The canteen at Phantom was once again closed, so we dug into our packs desperate to find something that would appeal and did some sharing and comparing. With water refilled, headlamps on, and stomachs sort of filled, we headed off to the Silver Bridge to cross the Colorado River again and start our journey along and up the Bright Angel Trail.

Bright Angel Trail to South Rim (9.6 miles, net +4,460 feet)

After Silver Bridge, we encountered the beach trail. As in lots and lots of sand. In all honestly, the sand was HORRIBLE after 40 miles and on now-tired legs. This is when we started getting goofy and detailing our list of improvements that we would send the NPS once we finished this thing. Seriously, didn’t they know there was this much sand on their trail? They needed to do a much better job sweeping the sand away for us!

We traversed the gently rolling trail along the Colorado for about a mile and then started heading up along Garden Creek. It was pitch-dark at first and we paused to turn off our headlamps and gaze at the stars. It was beautiful. The moon rose again and started to show us the shadows of the cliffs above us. The rocks continued to radiate the heat of the day, and we stayed warm despite the sun’s having set. Garden Creek gurgled along next to the trail, the crickets chirped, and despite being tired, I think we were all excited to be on the last leg of our journey.

Bright Angel Trail is a much gentler trail than South Kaibab. The trailhead is a bit lower, and it spreads the elevation over a greater distance. Thank goodness it was gentler! Everyone’s feet and legs were starting to hurt, we were becoming less eager to eat, and it became an act of discipline to keep moving purposefully, keep hydrating, and keep eating.

Another nice thing about Bright Angel is that the campgrounds, bathrooms, and water sources are placed closely along the trail—I think the longest stretch was a bit more than three miles. As we drained our hydration bladders, we all shifted to going with less water, which lightened our packs and made for happier backs and shoulders.

There was a fair amount of delirious hilarity as we counted scorpions and mice and other creatures on the trail. There were too many crickets to count, but we did see three mice, five live and one dead scorpions, one black widow spider, and one bat. We refined our improvement suggestions for the park service and mourned the lack of emergency mules that could have carried us the rest of the way to the South Rim. And then we grew quieter and hit that silent place, where you are suffering and just want to be done, so you set yourself to the job of getting it done and we got it done.

As we neared the top, the next day’s runners and hikers started their descents, and we watched a few runners as well as ten or so hikers heading down. The wind started to blow, and I remembering noting the folks coming down were wearing a lot of clothes compared with our shorts and t-shirts. And when we topped out, oh my gawd it was cold! Our bodies were taxed and had no ability to manage the wind and cold, and we were instantly frozen.

A woman who was sitting on a bench bundled up in blankets at the trailhead asked us about two older gentlemen she was waiting for, and we provided an update on their status (they were probably still at least an hour from topping out), and then she took our picture.

Happy and tired!

Done! 12:02 a.m. Saturday, October 7

A quarter mile walk that felt like 100 miles took us to our room, and we pulled on jackets, blasted the heat, and basically fell apart. Heidi and I sat on a bed with the comforter over our legs, inhaling chips and mango salsa. Wendy filled the tub with hot water and Epsom salt and we somehow all squeezed in to soak our aching feet. We tried to open bottles of Mexican Coke and Wendy finally found a handy lamp on the wall to pry the cap off, but ended up spraying two-thirds of the bottle on the floor in the process.

We managed quick showers and then collapsed into bed. I remember Heidi fell asleep instantly, and I’m not sure about Wendy and Sarah, but my feet were throbbing and I had a rough time getting my body to relax enough to sleep. Despite our 2 a.m. bed time, we were all up by 7:30 the next morning. Stomachs were still dealing with 20 hours of trail food, and it was difficult to eat. Walking around was an exercise in mind-over-body control, and we staggered around to a few sights and gift shops. We searched everywhere for R2R2R stickers but had to settle for a MacGyvered version.

Our adventure ended with a stay in a resort in Phoenix, where we lazed by the poolside and let our bodies recover while our minds processed all we had seen and done.

Reflections

Before we left Seattle, we all took the time to think about and share our goals for R2R2R. Among our top goals were simply finishing and not rushing—taking the time to savor the sights and experiences, take pictures, and have fun together. We all agree that our trip was a resounding success! If you’re going on something big with a group, I think sharing your goals in advance is imperative. If our goals weren’t aligned, it wouldn’t have been as much fun as it was.

We were also realistic about our physical abilities and the possibility that one or more of us might struggle. Being able to be open about how I was doing on North Kaibab was so important: I was able to address the issue early on, which kept me from digging myself into a hole and having a harder time recovering.

Good group dynamics are another key to a successful adventure. Whether it was easy going and tough, we laughed and appreciated our friendship and sharing that incredible place together.

As I write, I laugh a bit at all of us too: We have a list going for 2018’s adventures, and as we suffered up the last few miles and through the past couple of days of recovery, we were crossing things off the list. I bet they’re back on there within a couple of weeks!

Finally, as always, I want to recognize the support of my husband, Mike, who encourages me to pursue my dreams and covers things on the home front for my training and adventure time. I love you, babe.

My kids put up with a lot too. Abs and Meggy, you’re the best! I love you.

Plants! I always have plant pictures, but this time saved them for the end.

And Trail Signs! That’s the other thing I always include, so here they are.

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Sun, 10 Sep 2017 18:59:36 +0000Sarahhttps://sarahhaubert.com/go/running/r2r2r-run-across-the-grand-canyon-twice-overnight/It’s something like 5am and the sun is coming up and an older Japanese man is standing timidly like 10ft away from me, his enormous tourist camera in one hand, the other outstretched as if to offer me support without being nearly close enough to actually touch me.

“Are you…okay?” He asks tentatively.

Fair enough, I was probably screaming or coughing or weeping, I don’t remember. Actually, it’s been…four months? And I’m still crying as I type this.

“I’m okay, I just had a really long night.” What to say? To a random stranger. What could I say that would make this kindly man understand? The sun is coming up and it’s 20 degrees and I just ran across the Grand Canyon twice, and I have to get to the kennel the moment they open because Luna had never been boarded. “I’m okay, really, thank you.”

It’s been four months and I haven’t written this yet, this write up of one of my favorite projects and greatest runs of all time, because when we got back from this trip I found out that Luna had a very aggressive form of squamous cell carcinoma, and this trip was my last big one with her and it is so hard to relive what an extraordinary trip it was without tinging it in the resulting tragedy. But I’ll try.

We arrived at Grand Canyon National Park just before sunset on Sunday, and spent most of Monday lounging in the back of the truck reading and eating and keeping my legs up. Sometime in the afternoon, I ventured to the ranger station to discuss trail conditions and water. There had been a rock slide that damaged the pipes that bring water to the North Rim, and apparently a significant portion of the trail. The North Rim was scheduled to open that day, and it still did. If you didn’t already know this, the very remote North Rim of the park relied on those pipes for their water supply. While they worked to rebuild the damaged pipes, the NPS had contracted a company to deliver water to the North Rim by truck, by the 10’s of thousands of gallons per day. Incredible, right?

Anyway, a very helpful ranger discussed trail work and water availability and mule train schedules with me, and all the while I carefully did not disclose I was planning to run it that very night. From the ranger station, I drove to the kennel to leave Luna for the night, then off to the S Kaibab Trailhead.

The S Kaibab trail is spectacular, maxing out around 60% grade, and highly technical both by nature and by the erosion from millions of feets tracking it in the mud. It follows a steep ridgeline almost all the way to the Colorado River. An extraordinary amount of tourists attempt to hike down it despite these difficulties, resulting in an average of 250 rescues per year and a lot of very dramatic signage.

I took a picture of another one that I can’t find; it’s a similar illustrated man on his knees with vomit spewing on the ground.

Update: I found it.

So anyway, there was a lot of tourist dodging and while I was still very friendly and courteous, it scares the bejesus out of tourists to pass them at 12mph. Views were great though:

DCIM100GOPRO

DCIM100GOPRO

Just before leaving CO for this trip, I remember voicing my significant concerns that I had only been running for one month before this and while I was in banging shape from all the alpine touring and skate skiing, the impact resistance might be a big problem. You can do infinity elevation gain, but joints need to assimilate to impact of running technical downhill. So spoiler alert, 5k later, I see the river and my knees are trashed, the little stabilizer muscles feeling so taut it made me wonder if popping them was something I actually had to worry about.

But anyway, arriving at the river in under an hour looked like this:

and felt like pure joy. The trail here becomes softer and is banked for the last almost mile or so, allowing me to hit almost 15mph however briefly.

Crossing the bridge over the river, the sun was setting and there was a large crew on Boaters Beach cheering me on; I would find out later that they were from Leadville, and I knew many of them! All kismet.

After the river, the trail begins a steady low grade incline that lasts for 7 or 8 miles. It’s like a jungle down there, with creeks and all kinds of foliage everywhere. No exaggeration, it is the most vibrant environment I’ve ever had the pleasure of running with. If my knees weren’t hurting so much that I was questioning ever being able to walk again, I would have felt I could run forever. It started to rain, but here at the bottom of the canyon it was the warmest and despite and the dark and storm it was still around 60 degrees and the rain felt like it could restore new life to a body that gets broken by ultrarunning time after time.

Mile after mile ticked on, but so did the time, as the clock was getting on towards 3:30 I realized I hadn’t even started the proper ascent of the North Rim, thus thoroughly jeopardizing the 4hr crossing I had hoped for. The North Rim trail was actually super exciting, with tons of exposure, making a full dark ascent interesting indeed. I passed a large group of tourists, maybe 7 or so, that had headlamps mysteriously but were otherwise struggling so majorly that I asked them if they wanted me to call the ranger station when I reached the top. But, they didn’t speak English. And they were still moving, so.

I hit the North Rim at just over 5h. It was one of the most satisfying moments of my life, to see the TH sign reflected in my headlamp. 21 miles down, and hard earned. I sat in the sand and ate a Larabar and contemplated how far behind I was timewise. It just didn’t seem to matter anymore, like the number of hours could possibly describe the experience. As I started the descent and my knees reeled, I made the call to take it easy before I caused serious damage and didn’t come down balls to the wall.

Crossing the 7 miles on the bottom of the canyon to the river was absolutely surreal. It had stopped raining, but was cloudy, so the dark was complete. Just me and my headlamp and the plants and creatures and water rushing; the backpackers all tucked into bed and it felt as though they ceased to exist, and I was all alone. Do you remember that Third Eye Blind song, Motorcycle Drive By? 1999. “I’ve never been so alone. And I’ve…I’ve never been so alive.” The balls of my feet just sweeping the sand, and I, cruising the darkness.

Crossing the river for the second time it felt like I was on another planet, my headlamp barely illuminating the bridge around me but the feeling of being swallowed up in the rushing movement of the river overwhelming. And so, with knees that were barely holding my weight, quads that had properly been banged, and 35 miles already come and gone, I ascend the brutally steep and long south side of the Grand Canyon.

Kripa in Sanskrit is the word for Grace. We have this idea of grace in the west, like it’s all about ballerinas or beautiful things. I suppose the idea of saying Grace is closer to the real concept, that holds up in basically every other language. Kripa, anyway, is to honor something with your presence. With your attention, your devotion, your will, your intentions, your body. Last year, in the Tetons, I got really into the idea of honoring a landscape, a line, a mountain with my presence, intention, and body. To put so much time and effort into finely tuning this instrument to cross any terrain seamlessly and in style, [I used something similar when describing this run to another person and she assumed by “in style” I meant “looking good”] so that when the time comes, I can properly honor the landscape and its’ lifeforce. I believed [believe] there is nothing more perfect.

This double crossing was imperfect; I trashed my knees so early on that I couldn’t do the whole 42 miles full out as I had intended. However. About halfway up the south side, there was a light behind me so bright I was sure that a large group of people with headlamps must have somehow just caught me without my noticing until they were right behind me. I whipped around, startled, and saw, instead:

the clouds had finally parted, revealing an almost full moon, a sky full of stars, that so thoroughly bathed the canyons below me in light that all depth, rock, water, shadow was now made of liquid silver; iridescent and fluidly moving with the energy of life within. I can think of few times in my life that I actually found something breath-taking literally. So overwhelming, I couldn’t even be moved to weep [or perhaps too exhausted and dehydrated?]. And once again, as I had emptied myself, given everything of myself, sacrificed and destroyed, to and for this environment in the name of divine Grace, the environment filled me back up. Have you ever thought about what it really means to be FUL-FILLED?

And then, if you really want to know what happened next, I knew I was getting near the top, a group of runners was on their way down. Or, I guess I think of them that way because they were wearing running vests and running shoes and backward hats, but they weren’t running at all. They were attempting a R2R2R as well, and told me they hoped to finish in less than 30 hours. I smiled. Then, at like 430, the sun came up:

And I staggered to the Trailhead. And I screamed or wept or coughed, I don’t really remember, causing that poor tourist to reach out to help. I walked to the car. It was so cold, and I didn’t really have the energy left to homeostasis my body temperature, so I shook wildly. I drove to the kennel. I got a coke from one of those NPS vending machines that features old photo inlays of whatever park you’re in and isn’t labelled brand-wise. It was 75 cents. I was there to get Lu the moment they opened. And we carried on.

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Sun, 01 Jan 2017 05:40:40 +0000kateginsbachhttps://kateginsbach.com/go/cycling/miles-to-go/There was one thing I was absolutely certain of after I finished Leadville this year–I would not be back, at least not in 2017. I figured it would be time for a break and well training with law school didn’t leave me as the nicest person to be around. I knew I would be in the same position with graduate school as I was with law school except adding being out of the country for 6-8 weeks doing research. The thought of having to train towards a PR would be an added stressor that I didn’t need, right?

At WBR fundraiser…always ready to ride

The cookies on my computer seem to know me well enough to have placed ads for the Leadville Lottery, hmmmmm….no, no, no. In the midst of finals I had a break that allowed me to go into Chicago for a fundraiser for World Bicycle Relief. There I ran into Michelle who ran crew last year for her wife, Sharon at Leadville. Sharon had been pulled off the course at mile 73, compounded by a multitude of factors, getting cold, staying cold, which led to not taking in any food and limited hydration. I was amazed to hear that she had made it 73 miles on one gel and about 20 oz. of water before finally meeting the Cutoff Queen at Pipeline Aid Station. I had my reasons for not signing up, school, relationships, training time. Each one, Michelle provided a counter point for, and she’s not even a lawyer (just married to one). It wasn’t until after we watched a short video of girls riding bicycles to get to school that Michelle posed the option, what if I paced Sharon to the finish? Hmmm, okay that was definitely intriguing, I wouldn’t have to worry about hitting any PR and it would be a great way to actually enjoy the race without worrying about my performance. I texted Sully, “On a scale of 1 to you’ll break up with me- what are you thoughts on Leadville next year?” He was less than enthused. I tabled it for a while to get through finals but all while still playing the option out in my mind.

After finals I got to Boulder and talked to Sully more about it, “I feel that it’s a good option for me to ride and not race, because there is no way I can train for a PR or even top my performance from last year with having to deal with school, research, and defend a thesis. It gives me a way to still be involved with Leadville and WBR. I can train to finish though and I know the course so well that I could help her reach her goal of finishing. And I would only be signing up for the lottery, the chance to race.” It took a few conversations but Sully and my mother (still hesitant) got on board. Yes, this is all just to have a chance of registering because it’s all done through a lottery system. I haven’t had to deal with that in a few years because I was always able to qualify through the 50 miler but I opted against it this summer because I was sure that I would not be racing in 2017.

I am officially registered and put Sully’s name in too just for good measure.

One thing that I decided to accomplish this year since Leadville wouldn’t be an issue is Rim 2 Rim 2 Rim. Starting on one rim of the Grand Canyon, running to the other, turning around and running back. It’s about 42 miles of running/hiking. I’ve had it on my radar for a while.

5 years ago- at least one of us is a lawyer now

I tried to talk my brother into it in 2011 but he was busy with law school and then I got into cycling so didn’t give it much thought until this past summer. I had a conversation with one of the WBR girls in Leadville about it and she was definitely interested. Once I got back to school I started a list of potential girls who would maybe be interested. I really kept meaning to send an email to start the conversation but I always came up with a reason not too, because if I sent the email it would become very real.

Only have to run 10 time the distance for R2R2R

In Boulder I did a 4 mile trail run with Sully and then got enough courage from drinking a whole bottle of wine to write the email and sent it to 5 girls. All more experienced runners than me, one having done The Leadville run a handful of times, she and another one have done R2R2R before. One completed an Ironman that qualified her for the World Championship, one having done multiple distance trail races, and one being a friend from high school who has a handful of marathons under her belt and I knew if she said yes, my mom would be more inclined to let me go (similar to many events in high school). Regardless of skill level they all have easy-going personalities and seem down for a good time. I was expecting to get maybe 2 of them to respond with yes, instead I got all of them. I am beyond excited, and hoping that the logistics for everyone to get there will work out. Right now we’re looking at going the beginning of April. I’ve been looking at training plans, but realize I almost need to train for a training plan for conquering a 50 mile ultra race.

Does this count as training?

I’m planning on beginning to run in about a week or so. Right now Sully and I are on our way to Hartford, CT for Cyclocross Nationals. I’ll be able to race collegiate nationals and then also signed up for single speed because if I’m going might as well make it worth it. I’m excited, although my training has been slightly sub-par, going in with the mindset to have fun and see friends rather than focus on the results.

My bike is ready, even if I’m not

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Sun, 25 Dec 2016 22:23:27 +0000vegantriathloncoachhttps://vegantriathloncoach.com/go/family/r2r2r-the-rite-of-passage-becoming-a-real-ultrarunner-in-the-depths-of-the-grand-canyon/Spring Break has always been a week of outdoor adventures for the family! Who is not ready to get out of Dodge at the end of a harsh winter! In Fact, it is so cold in Baker City, Oregon, that we go to Dodge to warm up a little!! OK, bad joke and thanks to all the locals who still follow me after mocking our mutual home. This is Spring Break 2014, you can catch 2013 on my Introduction to Ultra-Marathoning archived November 2016. And I think 2015 is deserving of a future blog post!! Anyway, back to the narrative….

We started our trek south a few days early, the double crossing of the Grand Canyon was scheduled for Saturday, March 22 at 6 AM. We had to drive to Bountiful, Utah to pick up a few Sherpas for the family trek, and Collin, a new addition to the family who bravely married my niece. No offense to my niece, marriage always requires a bit of courage and fortitude. Collin had signed on to do the double crossing with me, making my wife feel much better knowing that I wouldn’t be going at it alone and thus providing the much needed spousal peace of mind. We rolled out on Thursday, collected the strays, and finished the long drive to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon to check into our luxury accommodations on Friday evening. “Luxury” is always tongue and cheek when you travel with my crew, and it usually means better than a tent or the back of the van! This however, was a rare exception. The choices are limited on the South Rim, although this is a thriving metropolis compared to the North Rim! There is a little community called Tusayan about 9 miles from the rim, and although there isn’t anything befitting the lifestyles of the rich and famous, there really isn’t any dumps either. Vacancy, at least from the hotels’ point of view, isn’t much of a problem either. It is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Country, and there are only a handful of rooms. We thought about camping, but quite frankly, the weather in early spring on the South Rim is crazy enough that a tent and 10 month-old wasn’t going to mix very well, and my wife was planning to be the rescue party all day on the rim, and wanted 4 walls and a thermostat. Therefore, on this rare occasion, The Rushton Family and Honored Guests, were booked for 2 nights at a hotel with a pool and hot tub! I had a sneaky suspicion that the jets just might feel really nice after the leisurely jaunt to North Rim and back! I was right!

The plan was simple, arrive at the South Kaibab Trailhead as a family. Collin and Myself would run down the canyon over the river and ascend on the North Kaibab Trail to the Rim. We would make our return along the Bright Angel Trail back to the South Rim. Roughly 45 miles and 11,000 feet.

Myself and Collin at the top of South Kaibab anticipating the days festivities. Notice the bright colors to make a possible Search and Rescue a little easier!

7 kids and 2 older cousins, Adam being the youngest at 6, would Hike to the river and back, also ascending Bright Angel, about 17 miles total. My wife, with the 5, 3, 10 month-old would drive back to the hotel and enjoy the pool for the day and then come back to sight-see and look for the victorious finishers and safely transport them back to the civilized world of Tusayan!!

The Rim to River to Rim Crew at the finish….it doesn’t even look like they started!!

We got started about an hour late, 7 AM, which isn’t bad for my herd of cats. I was a little concerned because I didn’t bring a light, and had no desire to ascend 5000 ft of precipice in the dark. Another issue was the morning mule train had already started down the trail, so we would be catching the beasts, and we really weren’t sure how difficult it would be to get around them. As it turned out, we caught them a few miles down the trail, and their guide stopped them relatively quickly and had us run past on the uphill side. Obstacle number 1, complete. What surprised me the most was how much abuse my quads took on this steep descent, 5000 feet in a little over 6 miles!

I have a habit of running in cycling jerseys, it always seems to be easy to stow a few items in the rear pockets. I have been doing this for years and extracting and replacing my stuff again is effortless for me at this point! I have 3 pockets to divide my gear, which helps me sort different nutrition or garbage into its own location. It does tend to bounce around at the beginning of a run, especially if you start out with a mobile convenience store on your back! Such was the case this morning, being magnified 3-fold by the steepness of the descent. I own a little running pack at this point in my life, but the main beauty of running is the simplicity, so realize you don’t need much more than shorts and shoes to make it happen!! I also had sodium tablets, which I distributed to several other runners along the way! And lastly, 2 20 0z bottled waters, one for each fist, which I figured would be important because we had no idea what water sources would be available along the north side of the river!

The North Rim is closed this time of year, so many of the water stops along the way are not functioning! Bright Angel Creek has clean water and is conveniently located during the hottest, lower section, so if you have a filter, you should be fine. If you are winging it like me, The Pumphouse had water going, and I was grateful for it both ascending and descending the last very steep 5 miles to the top of the 8241 ft North Rim….Back to the Adventure!

So I think Collin and I had just blown up our legs over the first 7 miles to the Phantom Ranch, and were looking at a 28 mile out and back with close to 6000 ft of gain, most of it in the last 5 miles! I was excited because that meant the first 9 miles would be relatively flat, so I took off like a rocket, remembering the conspicuous absence of a headlamp in my jersey. It didn’t take long before Collin began dropping hints that this may not be his preferred stategy….

I love, and hate running with other people! Maybe I am just socially awkward, or maybe running is supposed to be my away time. Did I mention that I have 10 kids? It adds a factor that I can’t control and can potentially sabotage my efforts. Collin had never tried anything like this before! He is, however, an amazing runner! It may be his youth, but he has a beautiful, powerful, and seemingly effortless stride! When I run with him, I find a bit of envy creeping into my mind. The only time I can out run Collin is when he is spent, and I felt that maybe he was reaching for his credit cards!! We had talked about splitting up if one of us couldn’t make it, and I was thankful that Collin sent me ahead instead of holding me back!! We decided to meet at the Phantom Ranch, so we could at least start together on the last leg of our journey. Leaving Collin alone on the trail, I continued my ascent.

The steep part is only about 5 miles, but it is a really difficult 5 miles. There was only the one water stop, and it really wasn’t enough, but putting one leg in front of the other, I finally topped out on the snowy North Rim. It took about 5 hours to this point and I started to catch up with other runners and walkers doing the same thing as me!! I actually enjoyed chit-chatting, and was surprised to find some mutual friends among them! The endurance community is not very large, and it doesn’t take long before you start to recognize faces at each event. We would share nutrition and stories as needed, and find out when we were going to be doing the next Ironman or Ultra together! I was surprised that there were at least 15 or so runners and two large groups of hikers struggling for the coveted R2R2R moniker!!

Something I should mention is the trail itself is not very technical, there was a small potion that had been washed out and had to be traversed with a rope that had been securely mounted for this purpose. There is steep cliffs along the trail, and although I really didn’t think I was going to fall off, they made it a little difficult to enjoy the scenery! I would sometimes stop for a few moments to enjoy the view. About 12 people die per year in The Grand Canyon, and only a small percentage of these are from falls. So among the millions of visitors, your odds of survival are pretty good! I ran the whole way except a little bit near the South Rim on the Bright Angel Trail. I was tired, it was crowded, and I quite frankly didn’t trust my legs on the treacherous switchbacks!!

At the top of the trail there is a warning sign discouraging hikers from attempting to walk the 17 or so miles to the river and back in a day!! There is actually a story on the sign of a runner who died while attempting the feat. It is a little disheartening, and I had to smuggle my wife past this sign the first time I took the whole family to the river and back in a day! All the kids stood in front of the dire warning as I distracted my wife by pointing to the beautiful scenery, it worked perfectly! We did show her the sign on the way back, she wasn’t amused! I did learn a bit from this experience. One of my daughters experienced some serious difficulty breathing during the trek. You drop 5000 ft through a myriad of different ecosystems and fauna. It maybe wise to carry Benedryl or an Epi-Pen along with you as well. The hike itself is epic, and if you decide to do this with your kids be ready for a serious challenge! I did this with an Ironman buddy who refused to run with me to the car at the end, and made me pick him up at the Bright Angel Trailhead with my wife and kids!!

It Obviously wasn’t all fun and games! 7 year-old Adam

Alright, I think you left me at the top of the North Rim. The descent was pleasant to the 9 mile flattish section that leads to Phantom Ranch. I didn’t push it too hard and my legs felt surprisingly good as to absorb the steep pounding with minimal discomfort. I was starting to get thirsty, and I knew it would be over an hour to the next watering hole at the river! This was a hard section, even at the end of March it was hot, I couldn’t even imagine trying this in July or August! As I was running, I came across a tiny spring, right in the middle of the trail!!! I scraped away some sand, and started to suck water, a precious few drops at a time! I was really parched and didn’t want to get any farther behind on my hydration at this point and still had a few miles to The Phantom Ranch! When I arrived, my first priority was fluid. My second was tracking down Collin, I didn’t realize how difficult this would be! I wandered up and down, between buildings and asking everyone if they had seen a tired looking guy in a cycling jersey! It took a good half an hour, but we finally crossed paths. We sat down, shared some nutrition, took some salt tablets, and planned our final 10 mile ascent! At least water wouldn’t be a problem, as there were several stops along the Bright Angel Trail that had clean water! Collin had followed me about halfway up the steep ascent on the North Rim before deciding he had better save enough energy to get home and turned around. He covered close to 40 miles, which crushed his previous record for miles in a day. Although he didn’t finish he was really pleased with his side of the adventure!!

We started the ascent together, but it didn’t take long to realize that he was not going to hold my pace. I amused myself by running up the steep switchbacks and hurling insults at him from somewhere up the canyon. I think he took it in good humor, at least we are still friends and occasionally do some runs together. The other hikers weren’t exactly sure how to take it. I hope they enjoyed the intended comedy, and for the record, I didn’t say anything that bad or mean!! I know I am not the only trash-talking ultrarunner!

As I got near the finish, I had to ascend a roughly 2 mile, really steep section to the top. This is mentally difficult, because you can see the rim seemingly a few minutes away! But the canyon is huge and you have no perspective!! It is always farther than you think to the next visible landmark! My wife and kids are a great support, and I kept looking for them at the top of the rim and listening for an encouraging shout. It never happened. When I finally reached the top, it was quickly becoming cold, and I was really wiped out. I borrowed a cell phone, and told my wife where to find me. Apparently, she had picked up the hiking party and somehow lost the car keys. I went into the Bright Angel Lodge and laid down on a hard wooden bench. There was a lot of traffic through the area, and the cold air would rush through the door every few minutes and chill me to the core. I was trying to rest, but was mostly just shivering pathetically in the lobby. A hiker walked passed and asked if I was OK, she had just finished the same route as me in over 24 hours non-stop. She said I looked awful and gave me her blanket, noting that I appeared to need it much more than she did. I was very grateful, and yes, pathetic was very apt to how I was feeling at the top! It took a long time for my wife to figure out where I was, and she was still looking for parking when my nephew came in to officially rescue me! We still had a good hour wait for Collin and I couldn’t think of anything except for food and the hot tub!!! It took me about 11 1/2 hours to finish, although my GPS watch died shortly after beginning to descend the North Rim and I really didn’t get an official time.

The Hiking Crew at the starting line!!

Getting back to the hotel was probably the best part of the day, at least it felt like it at the time!! Truthfully, I couldn’t even imagine climbing into a sleeping bag or tent. It took a good 30 minutes in the warm jets of the spa before I even started to feel warm again! The kids all had a great time, but they were pretty worn out as well! We drove back to Salt Lake the next day at a leisurely pace, my legs were stiff, and getting out of the van was a challenge, but we managed to enjoy ourselves along the route! This was definitely one for the books, so if you live in the Western US you have got to knock this off your bucket list!

Rest assured, fellow adrenaline junkies,the hike is much harder than a marathon. The R2R/R2R2R hike is dangerous and strongly discouraged because these hikers risk injury, illness, and death.

One thing is certain if you hike R2R2R. You will love or hate the Grand Canyon, and you will never be the same again.

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Wed, 19 Oct 2016 20:24:29 +0000Trenahttps://trailrunning100.com/go/race-reports/rim-to-rim-to-rim-grand-canyon-september-26-2016/I’m not sure how to even begin to tell you about this adventure. It’s not a race but just a very well known run to do in the ultra running community; unless you are an avid hiker or trail runner the term “Rim 2 Rim 2 Rim” probably means nothing to you. For ultra runners it’s a bucket list item. For me (and my group I went with) it meant going down the Bright Angel Trail from the South Rim to the Colorado River, then following the North Kaibab Trail across the base of canyon and up to the North Rim, and then reversing direction all the way back to the South Rim. The route we went, totaled 48 miles which we would complete in less than a day.

I should probably give you a little back ground here. I had never been to the Grand Canyon before. As hard as that might seem to believe, at 52, this was my first trip. I had seen pictures and we’d been planning this trip for almost a year now. My friends Carrie and Lisa, who I’ve run many ultra marathons with over the last couple of years, have also enjoyed some other great running adventures together. Carrie had done this trip a couple years ago with friends of hers from Wisconsin (where she grew up) and some of them were planning a trip back to experience it once more. There would be room for Lisa and I to join them on this return trip to the Canyon. With their previous experience on this run, we left all the planning and details to them. A date was picked for late September 2016.

So with our plans all set, Carrie, Lisa and I flew into Phoenix on Saturday, September 24th and drove from there to Flagstaff, Arizona to meet up with the Wisconsin crew and another runner from Georgia. Another local running friend from Georgia, Janet was joining us for our run, but because of her tight schedule she would only be able to run down the Canyon to the River and back up, also called Rim to River. Later that afternoon we all converged on Flagstaff where we spent the rest of the day and most of the next day, before heading over to the Grand Canyon.

My first look at the Grand Canyon, trying to take in what we are about to do

Our group met up at 4:00am the next morning in the Bright Angel Lodge for a quick group picture before heading down to the trail. We all have our headlamps on and know that it will likely be a couple of hours in the dark before the sun comes up. We carefully travel this first steep downhill section in the dark and hit the Indian Garden camp ground just as the sun rises. This is my first trip to the canyon and in the canyon, so I’m in awe as I take the whole trip in. I tried to take a few pictures to capture it all, but later when it seems that my iPhone camera just doesn’t do it all justice, I forgo taking more pictures. Most of the pictures I’m sharing are from Carrie’s snap on camera she wears on her pack.

Our group at 4am and some early photos on our trip down

Once through the Indian Garden Camp Ground area we head down to the Devils Corkscrew section, taking us further and deeper into the canyon. Soon after we left Indian Garden area two members of our group from Wisconsin told us to all go ahead and not wait on them. They were only doing the Rim to Rim and staying overnight on North Rim before taking a shuttle back the next day. So their pace plan would be much slower, and the rest of our group moved ahead.

From Indian Garden down the Corkscrew to the Colorado River

Typically on a run, I would think the whole way down a big hill how I would have to come up it later, but those thoughts didn’t run through my head. I was really so busy taking in the moment and knowing it would be so much later and mostly likely dark before I was going up, I didn’t think much about that part. The Devils Corkscrew sections is 3.2 miles that winds you down to the Colorado River. Then it’s another 1.5 miles along the beautiful Colorado River to what is called the Silver Bridge where we would cross. It was at the water stop just after crossing the bridge that Janet, our Georgia friend must turn back. After a bathroom break and water fill up the rest of us head to Phantom Ranch where we stop again, this time for some famous Lemmy’s Lemonade.

The Colorado River crossing and Lemonade at Phantom Ranch

Once we leave Phantom Ranch it’s 7 miles across the base of the Canyon before we start to climb out the North side. The temperatures were beginning to rise as we made our way across the canyon floor. I still found myself in awe with each turn and step as I wanted to take it all in and enjoy the moment I was in. It did seem to get quit warm before we reach Cottonwood Campground on the other end of the canyon base. There was shade there along with another water stop and chance to eat some snacks and assess how everyone was feeling. All was well as we headed out just a few miles to the Pump house Station which is the last water and bathroom before going up the North Rim.

From Phantom Ranch to Cottonwood Campground

Now we reach the first real climbing, 3.7 miles up to the Supai Tunnel. Our group of 5 now begins to really spread out more as we climb and chat a little less during this time. Carrie, Lisa and I climb at a more steady pace up the canyon as the other 2 trail behind. The views from the North trail are incredible and somewhat scary as we climb, with a Canyon wall on one side of us and a drop off just on the other side. Because I’ve not done this before and have done little to no research, but am following the plan set out before me, I really have no idea where we are with regards to the top of the climb. I hear talk about the tunnel and then certain miles to the top but all of that means nothing to me. So we just keep climbing and climbing. Once we finally reach the bridge and Supai Tunnel it’s still a few miles from the top. We finally get to jump out of the path of the Mule Train coming down, we had waited all day to hopefully see some mules. During the last few miles of climbing, I start thinking about the Lodge on the North Rim and how I might run down there (1.7 miles) after getting to the top to bring us all back some cold Coke. After the afternoon in the heat nothing seemed to sound better, and we knew the others were a little ways behind us and might also enjoy a cold drink.

The views coming up the North Rim were spectacular

Once Carrie, Lisa and I got to the top and took our packs off, I looked around for a ride to the North Rim Lodge in hopes of finding cold drinks. A very nice guy and his son from Georgia (of all places) gave me a ride there. I did some quick scouting and found that other than a fountain drink there were not sodas or water sold in cans or bottles. So off I went, running back, empty handed, to the rim trail entrance to meet up with the others and keep them from waiting too long for me. The others had just gotten in and were assessing how they all felt. One girl from our team was not feeling too well due to the heat down in the canyon and was resting hoping to feel better. We discussed who was headed back and when we might go. I was feeling really good and ready to head out but no one was ready to commit to going back with me. Carrie opted to stay with her Wisconsin friends until they figured out if the one would be feeling better and able to go back, and Lisa and I headed back together. Once we left the North Rim we soon realized we would have no way of knowing for certain if one or all of them were headed back or staying the night on the North Rim. It would be more than 12 hours before we would find out the answer to that question.

Lisa and I were both feeling really good and ran down the North Rim, being a little more careful on the turns and stopping only briefly to get drinks at the water stops. Within a few miles we come across the other two from our group who are only going to the North Rim and saying the night there. I’m sure they were happy to see familiar faces as we exchanged some conversation and continued down. We made it back to Cottonwood Campground in what seemed pretty good time. We both needed to refill our packs, use the bathroom and eat a snack before heading out from there. Our next goal would be to keep pushing and get as far as we could in daylight, although we went ahead and got our headlamps out while we were stopped. Once it got dark we found it getting harder and harder to keep our running pace and began mostly hiking the later section to Phantom Ranch. We came into the ranch as it was definitely dark and were happy Phantom Ranch store was open and we could get some more Lemonade. We knew less than a mile from here would start our climb back up the South Rim. I remember us crossing the Silver Bridge and thinking in the dark just how long it was, during the day it seemed to be much shorter and faster to cross. The climb out would take Lisa and I several hours and most of it not really knowing exactly where we were in the climb with the exception of major land marks like Indian Garden and water stops along the South Rim. At one point during our climb Lisa and I stopped, sat back against the Canyon Wall, shut our headlamps off and looked up. We looked at the dark canyon walls in the night with the sky above filled with bright stars everywhere. Carrie had told us to do this, and it really was something amazing to take in.

Lisa and I finally reach the top of the Canyon and head back into Bright Angel Lodge to have our photo taken by the same lady who had taken it that morning. She was amazed at our adventure, while we were too tired at the moment to take in our accomplishment. In many ways, maybe you can never fully take it in. Lisa and I head to our hotel room for some cold Chocolate Milk and snacks we had waiting for us, warm showers and a warm bed. I laid in bed afraid to fall asleep for fear of not hearing Carrie come to the door knocking and needing in after she arrived. It would be several hours later before she would come knocking and me dozing on and off in wait.

Lisa and I just after we finished, also a picture of a neckless that my work (David Douglas Diamonds and Jewelry) made for me before I left for this trip. I put it in my pack and carried it with me on my R2R2R adventure. Once Lisa and I got back to our room, I dug it out and put it on. I’ve been wearing it every since.

The next morning before leaving we would take another look at the canyon and get a whole new perspective of the adventure we had been on. Rim2Rim2Rim was an incredible journey, but not one to be taken lightly. Our group all runs long distances and tackles some pretty good elevation change on a regular basis, but it was still a challenge to take on the climbing involved in the mile deep canyon.

We take a look back to see just what we did, or really the beginning, the green section down the middle of the big pictures is Indian Garden which is about 5 miles down. The enormity of the Canyon is more than I can take it. I’m sure I’ll go back to explore it again!

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Tue, 11 Oct 2016 09:37:37 +0000teamcolorsbycarriehttps://teamcolorsbycarrie.wordpress.com/go/lets-get-personal/rim2rim2rim-adventures-in-the-grand-canyon/Hello everyone! There is a lot going on in the world of sports right now, including the Major League Baseball Playoffs and the first face-off of the National Hockey League regular season. So I know you are going to find it hard to believe that this week’s post isn’t about any of those things.

It was a little over 3 years ago that I first heard the term “Rim 2 Rim 2 Rim” and unless you are an avid hiker or trail runner, those words are probably as foreign to you as they were to me. Rim 2 Rim 2 Rim literally means going from one rim of the Grand Canyon to the other rim of the canyon, and then turning around and going back to the first rim again.

In our case, it meant going down the Bright Angel Trail from the South Rim to the Colorado River, then following the North Kaibab Trail across the base of canyon and up to the North Rim, and then reversing direction all the way back to the South Rim. It’s a total of 48 miles, and we were able to complete the trip in 1 day (and most of 1 night)!

Here’s our group, gathered at the Bright Angel Lodge for a 4am photo op before heading into the canyon. Recognize me in the middle, in the green shirt?

The first 5 miles between the South Rim and Indian Gardens Campground is downhill. We completed this section mostly in the dark, and saw the sunrise as we approached the campground:

The next 3.2 miles took us through a winding section called the Devil’s Corkscrew and down to the Colorado River:

We ran along the river for 1.5 miles and finally came to what is known as the Silver Bridge across the Colorado. Here we said goodbye to one member of the group, who needed to return to the South Rim so she could back to her teaching job.

The rest of us made our way through 0.5 miles from the Bright Angel Campground to the iconic Phantom Ranch, where we had to stop for the famous Lemmy (the best lemonade you will ever taste)!

The sun was fully up and the temperatures were rising as we made our way across the 6.8 mile base of the canyon to Cottonwood Campground:

We started to get a feel for the climbing ahead as we worked our way up 1.4 miles to the Pumphouse station:

And now the real climbing began as we hiked the 3.7 miles up to Supai Tunnel:

Just 1.7 miles to go until we reached the North Rim, with several breaks for pictures and to let the mule train pass:

We finally made it to the North Kaibab trail head on the North Rim, and paused there to let a few group members catch up. We said goodbye to 3 members of the group who had planned ahead to stay at the North Rim Lodge and take the shuttle back to the South Rim the next day. At some point during our 24 mile trip back, the rest of us were wishing we had done the same thing!

While the North Rim is truly beautiful, I should tell you that there isn’t much to see at the trail head itself, except for lots of trees. Unlike the South Rim, there are no views of the canyon unless you venture about a mile down the trail. And remember going down is much easier than the trek back up!

And now for the return trip, as we headed back down to Supai Tunnel:

Then on to Cottonwood Campground as darkness began to fall in the canyon:

I don’t have any pictures from the last 16 miles as we crossed the canyon and climbed up to the South Rim in the early morning hours. But I can tell you that the canyon is an amazing place in the dark. One of my favorite parts of the entire trip was standing at the bottom of the canyon, turning off our headlamps, and just admiring how the bright the stars can be when the sky is completely dark. I’ve heard that crossing the canyon under a full moon is an experience not to be missed, so it is on my bucket list.

Rim2Rim2Rim is a truly incredible adventure, but not one to be taken lightly. Our group all runs long distances and tackles some pretty good elevation change on a regular basis, but it was still a challenge to take on the climbing involved in the mile deep canyon. Two of my Georgia friends who were along for the fun now think that I’m a little crazy for wanting to do this a second time. Something to the tune of “she knew how hard this was, and still wanted to come back and do it again”?

Yes, it’s hard. But if you are up to it, it’s a rewarding way to experience the canyon and see it in a way that few people would ever even dream of!

After getting some sleep, we walked around the South Rim a little bit before departing. It was an interesting perspective to look down on the trail where we had just been the day before. See the green area in the middle of the picture? That’s Indian Garden Campground, which is about 5 miles away and 1 mile lower in elevation than where I was standing when taking the picture:

Have you ever been to the Grand Canyon? If not, is it something you want to do someday? Comment below and share your experiences!

Until next week,

Carrie

P.S. If you’d like to see all of photos I took, check out my album on Google photos.

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Tue, 11 Oct 2016 02:26:12 +0000RoshMhttps://roshmurali.wordpress.com/go/experience/take-my-underwear/We were excited, yet scared, to start this grand hike – the Grand Canyon hike from the South Rim to North Rim to South Rim again in less than 24 hours – The Death March. I had done the rim-river-rim (16 miles) hike last year and that was extremely tough — R2R2R was thrice that distance.

We started walking down the Bright Angel trailhead on the South Rim at 6:15 PM. The plan was to hike 2 miles an hour so that we could finish 48 miles in 24 hours. According to our initial plan, we were to start at 5 PM, but we ended up spending a lot of time packing and repacking to make sure that we did not miss anything. It was going to be a long hike and we did not want to risk anything.

As we were heading down, we stopped a lot for various reasons – fixing the headlights, adjusting the hiking poles, checking the straps on the backpack. We spent time taking pictures too since we would run out of daylight soon. We got to a tunnel and stopped there to take some more pictures. We kept walking and came across another one, but did not give it too much attention since it was a shorter one.

Every other hiker we saw was coming back up from their hike and almost everyone who talked to us asked why we were going in so late. The answer, about doing the Death March, gave us a medley of responses, but it was mostly shock and disbelief. I had been pretty sure that people would have heard of this just by the number of articles I had seen online about ultra-runners running the R2R2R in 5-10 hours and at least a couple of posts about doing it as a hike without breaks.

We covered less than a mile in the first hour, but the hike went well – we did not have to stop a lot after the initial hiccups. At one point, one from the group had too many caffeine pills and started hopping down the trail. Her boyfriend shouted out to her ‘This Pokémon has evolved’, and she did not look too pleased with that. The route was almost straightforward – we still had to check if it was still the path or a rivulet’s dry bed a couple of times – and we reached the Colorado River by 12:45 AM. We sat there eating the burgers we got from Jack-in-the-box knowing that that would be the last real food we would get to eat till we reach back to the south rim.

In another half an hour, it was time to split from the group – two of us were doing the rim-rim-rim hike and the other three were doing the rim-river-rim hike – and it would be another 2 miles to Phantom Ranch, and then a 14-mile hike to the North Rim’s Kaibab trailhead.

We did not feel the distance until this point since we had a bigger group and we kept interacting all through the hike. But as we started walking again, I did start to feel that the backpack was a bit too heavy and that the straps were cutting into my shoulders. Venky said, “So, do you want to do the hike again next year?”

I said, “What? Why?”

“I don’t think we will finish this in 24 hours. So it’s not going to be a death march at this pace.”

“Can’t we just go a bit faster? Maybe three miles an hour.”

“I doubt that will be possible with the uphill we have left. Let’s see.”

In 5-minutes after leaving the bridge, we saw a sign that said that we were at Phantom Ranch. We had read the map wrong and assumed that we would have to walk 2 more miles to get there. We felt excited at shaving off the miles without even realizing it – we just had 14 more miles to get to the north rim, now. Excited, we picked up our pace; the next 7-miles would be a straight walk with no uphill or downhill until we got to Cottonwood.

The hiking poles hadn’t started to make a difference for me yet, but Venky said that it was helping him save energy and I should start using it, too. We had gotten a pair of Sendero collapsible hiking poles and they were pretty sturdy for the way they looked. But I felt that moving my arms was tiring me out more than saving me energy, so I decided not to until the uphill hike started. We took a 2-3 minute break every half an hour – to sip some water or eat a Cliff bar or an endurance gel.

We had to take a short detour from the path as a pipe, in the middle of the path, had leaked and water was gushing out, drowning the path ahead. We saw the first fellow-hiker at 6 AM. We had already done a bit of uphill and we had another 6-miles to get to the top and we had just taken a break to eat some peanut butter and have some Gatorade. On the way up, I started using the hiking poles and it was perfect. Me being new to extreme hikes, I felt amazed at how helpful they were. I could walk faster and the strain on my lower back and knees lessened by an immense amount when the poles were set at the right height.

As daylight started to break in, we started to see more hikers, starting their hike from the north side. We saw one guy who wore an R2R2R t-shirt; he asked us if we were going back to the south rim after this, then wished us luck and went on his way. Getting to the North rim was a struggle. This trail was steeper than the bright angel trail and coupled with the weight of the backpacks, it slashed our ascent rate by a lot.

At least we had luck with good weather. It remained a pleasant 60 deg. Fahrenheit till that point. We reached the summit at 9:50 AM and decided to rest there till 10:30 AM. We had a few cans of tuna and chicken breast — which would have made us retch in a normal circumstance, but tasted amazing then — and emptied all of them in that short time.

We started as planned and it felt good walking down. It was going to be an easy walk till Phantom Ranch – either downhill or no slope. But the sun was coming up and I hadn’t accounted for the heat.

Seeing more people gave us a lot more confidence and the hike felt a bit more interesting. That was a couple who were doing the R2R2R hike over 3 days and when we told them that we were doing the R2R2R hike, too, they asked where we were staying. We told them that we were trying to do it in one day without stopping. He was shocked and said that he thought they were the crazy ones until he heard that. We met another couple on the way – they had come to stay at the Phantom Ranch and were doing a short hike till cottonwood and back. When we told them about our hike, the woman looked at us like we were doing something wrong and she disapproved of it. But the guy said that it was awesome. We saw the R2R2R couple again on the way doing when they were taking a break and they shouted to the other hikers: “Make way. Ultra-athletes coming through.” They offered us their tent for us to rest in when they heard that Venky had a bad knee, but we refused since we had to keep going.

But, once we got to cottonwood, we started seeing lesser and lesser number of people until there were none. I had just 3 songs on my phone and I listen to all three of them nine times before I started getting tired of them. I ended up listening to an audio version of Anna Karenina for the next 2 hours after that. Venky, being a marathoner, would walk fast and he would always be ahead of me. When he got to a point where he would lose sight of me, he would wait till I gave him a thumbs up to continue walking. For almost all of the rest of the hike – when we were not resting – this was the only form of communication we had – it was tiring to talk, especially when we were laboring the heavy backpack on our shoulder.

We noticed that we had gotten to the area around the broken pipe – the water was still gushing out into the air and more of the path was under it. We covered as much as possible through the detour but had to finally step on the branches in the water, balancing ourselves, to get to the other side. Venky slipped and in a few seconds, one of his shoes was dripping muddy water. Luckily we had carried an extra pair of shoes – just one pair since both of us had the same shoe size, and the chance of both of us needing felt unlikely – and he switched to that, letting his wet pair hang from his backpack to dry.

The path after that, which ran along a stream had never-ending turns and after each turn, we would think that Phantom Ranch would be right after the next turn – we were wrong every time. At around 6 PM, we finally reached there. Since I had started using the poles, my arms had started to move under the weight of the shoulder straps of the backpack and had started chafing my shoulders.

But this was bearable compared to what was going on down below. It was a bad day to wear boxers instead of sports briefs and my thighs had started to rub against my privates – it felt like a colony of ants were dropped down there and were biting everything in sight with each step I took.

We saw the two couples again at Phantom Ranch. When we crossed by the store/restaurant, we started hearing claps and shouts: “24-hours! Way to go! Congrats.”

They offered us some food too, but we politely declined the offer and said our goodbyes. We still had 9-miles to go. This would be the homestretch. This was also time to start using the 6-pack of 5-hour energy bottles that we got. We poured one each into our Gatorade bottles so that we could use the insulin spike over a longer distance. The next destination would be Indian garden.

I told Venky that we would have to go slow since it had started to burn between my legs.

Venky said, “Do you want to use my underwear?”

“What?”

“Yeah just reverse it and use it. It’ll help.”

“No that’s fine. It’s just a little bit more.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

I walked kept my legs apart and walked like a penguin for a while, but it was really tiring. I finally decided to wear my thermals since that would be tight and hold everything in place, and protect my thighs from each other. As an additional measure, I rolled up my boxers and placed them between my thighs. This greatly reduced the pain while walking and we were on our way again. I felt like I could walk faster, so I had another 5-hour energy bottle and started walking up faster. In a few minutes, started feeling a bit dizzy. Venky thought that I was trying to pick something from the ground and he stopped, but I slowly lowered myself and lied down in the middle of the path. I heard Venky saying that I wouldn’t be able to wake up if I sleep now, but I just wanted 5 more minutes. My heart was beating fast and I needed the break. I felt fresh again in a few more minutes. I got back up, and we started walking again.

Another half an hour, dizziness again, and a few more minutes of sleep. Finally, we decided to take a bigger break at Indian gardens since it wasn’t safe to sleep on the trail. The bag was feeling heavier on our shoulders too over time. Venky got so bugged with it that he dropped it and kicked it a couple of times. I had gotten the skyline 8.0 30-liter backpack and it was good for short, 10-20 mile, hikes but the shoulder straps did not have enough padding for a longer hike like this.

When we got to Indian gardens, we saw 2 green eyes staring at us from the dark. There weren’t anyone else around. We stopped there for 5-minutes watching. The eyes moved left and right. Then down like a cat crouching before pouncing, but a bigger cat. We got a bit closer and found out that it was just a deer. We walked a bit more and saw some benches. I lied down when Venky started refilling his water bottles.

I am not sure if he tried to wake me up, but he finally said that we’d sleep for an hour and then continue. He was a bit worried that the people who had returned after reaching the river would start getting tensed – it had been 28 hours already.

It felt like only a few seconds had passed when Venky started waking me up.

Venky: “Let’s go. We’ve been sleeping for an hour.”

Me (still half-asleep): “Do you remember the deer we saw? We need to wait till the second one shows up.”

Me: “Just go ahead. Tell the others that we are okay. I’ll sleep for another 4-hours and meet you up there in the morning.”

Venky: “What?”

Me: “Aah okay, let’s go.”

I re-adjusted my rolled up boxers, picked up my heavy backpack, and we were on our way. Just another four miles more to go. It was a Sunday night and we did not see anyone else on the trail. I wanted to go slow since I was tired and did not want to take a wrong step somewhere and break my ankle or knee. Luckily I remembered to hydrate and avoided getting any cramps throughout the hike. The sleep helped a lot and I was able to go without needing any more stops – slow and steady with the aid of the poles.

At 2 AM I switched on my phone to see if I can get any coverage. I did get 2 bars and was able to talk to the others. I told them that I’d be there in another half an hour. In another 10 minutes, we saw the tunnel. We had seen it on the way down after hiking for 10 minutes and we were thrilled. Ten more minutes and we would be at the top. We had forgotten all about the second tunnel and it took us another 40 minutes to get to there.

I felt awesome to be back in the car. I found a slice of pizza and 2 burgers in the backseat, and gobbled them up within seconds, and was asleep within a few more.

Stats: 50 miles – 33 hours – 20k+ feet of elevation change.

It would take just a couple of days to heal my body, but a lot more to get rid of my new found dislike for cliff bars and endurance gels.

The wonders of the Grand Canyon cannot be adequately represented in symbols of speech, nor by speech itself. The resources of the graphic art are taxed beyond their powers in attempting to portray its features. Language and illustration combined must fail. -John Wesley Powell

R2R2R Adventure Cast:

Note: Hiking the Grand Canyon is dangerous in the summer heat and should not be attempted without training and experience hiking all day through 100+ degree heat.

Karl: The planner of the epic R2R2R adventure. Karl finished the Boston Marathon with a 2:50 time during a record heat of 100+ degrees in his college years, became known as the “run for the hoses” He has a goal to re-qualify for Boston and run it again. He is an experienced hiker and backpacker that has done numerous adventures all over the Grand Canyon and the one that introduced Colleen to the Grand Canyon.

Colleen: Ultrarunner Mountain Goat, completed R2R2R 16 times from summer to winter blizzards, The Grand Canyon is Colleen’s stomping and training grounds. The week before the rim adventure, Colleen went up and down Mt. Whitney twice to prepare for her upcoming 72 hour ultra-marathon race in Silverton.

Randall: Mountain eater and Ultrarunner that likes to do everything especially with a lot of vert, altitude, and elevation gain which explains why he ended up doing The Cactus to Clouds hike over 14 times and gets excited every time going up the San Jacintos even though he summited San Jacinto Peak so many times that he lost count.

Christina: All around adventurer that is prepared for everything except a sewing kit when a hiker asked Christina for one, Christina does everything from rock climbing to backpacking trips in the High Sierras and opts to ride a bike everywhere instead of driving.

All smiles standing up top Robert’s rock

The warm up: The Grandview Trail and the Cave of the Domes

Steep and Technical side Adventure warm up? I’m in. Colleen suggested we all meet up in the Grandview Trail to do a warm up hike before R2R2R. The warm up was a 3.5 mile 2,800+ feet descent down to Horseshoe Mesa and explore the Cave of the Domes down below then hike back up. This was an excellent side trip that I really enjoyed with lots of views of the canyons down below, while it was hot and humid outside, the temperature of the caves on the cliff side was the opposite, it felt like I was inside a fridge.

Cave of the Domes in the Grandview Trail

Adventure begins! The South Rim

After packing all our gear, we headed down South Kaibab Rim Trail to drop off Karl and Christina in the trail head, Colleen and I drove to one of the parking lots down the South Rim about a mile and a half way where we would make our starting point. This should give us time to do some trail running down the South Rim. My quads were a little sore from the warm up in the Grandview Trail, but once I started running, the soreness quickly disappeared.

The morning view of the steep and technical South Kaibab Trail.

The South Kaibab is a steep and technical trail roughly 7 miles with 5,000 feet of descent. There is no water access on this 7 mile stretch in comparison to the Bright Angel Rim Trail where water access is available. The trail is fully exposed in the sun with no shade at all, but the benefits of having a 360 degree view all around makes it a much scenic descent down or a long ascent up. We started off on at an easy run pace, as Colleen was able to give me a tour of the pinnacles and landmarks of the South Rim, time flew by fast on this section and soon we caught up with Karl and Christina.

“I’m not doing that,” says Christina while Karl is all for it doing the Colleen Pose. O’Neill Butte in the background.

We passed through a group of mule riders on the way up back to South Rim and thought we were insane for doing a rim crossing at this time of the year. On a side note, the mule riders have the right of away at all times in the trails, so it was important for us to stop and let them pass through.

Mule Riders on their way up South Kaibab Trail

It was starting to warm up at this point, with just a running vest, our gear was light and minimal; we needed to move fast and went on ahead of Karl and Christina running the rest of the way to Phantom Ranch. The long black rope across the Colorado River from a distance was starting to take form of a bridge and soon we were crossing the bridge over the Colorado River.

The view of the black bridge and the Colorado River as we descended down the South Rim.

This was the hottest part of the day at this point; Colleen suggested cooling off on one of the tributaries near Phantom Ranch. It was a life saver from the 100+ degree heat, the water on the stream was ice cold and my body temperature quickly dropped. A quick stop at Phantom Ranch for Coffee and Ice cold Lemonade was a much needed break from all the downhill running. Phantom Ranch was like an oasis and the best spot to place a restaurant, being located deep inside the rim, mules have to carry all the food and supplies in order to feed and serve hikers that made it at this point. Karl and Christina soon came in just minutes before us.

What heat? taking a much needed break to cool off in the triple digit summer heat.

Karl has been looking forward to get a taste of the Phantom Ranch coffee all morning and was planning on staying a little longer at Phantom Ranch. We went on ahead towards the next section and hottest part of the canyon, the 7.5 mile “heat zone” towards Cottonwood Campground.

Colleen and Karl pose for a picture in Phantom Ranch along with the excessive heat warning sign.

Running Inside a Heat Oven up the North Rim

After soaking our clothes and hat on the water fountain to get some early relief from the triple digit temperature, We headed towards Cottonwood Campground. Just as what Colleen mentioned earlier, once entering the Box Canyon the temperature rose even higher. The heat in the Grand Canyon is like no other, it felt like it was slowly draining away my energy and the best way to beat it is to enjoy it. Colleen suggested we run to Cottonwood Campground while cooling off on the streams, the faster we get to Cottonwood Campground, the more relief we get from the heat. It would take less than 2 hours if we ran this section and so we did.

The view of the scenic Box Canyon.

It was just like an inside of an oven, well a scenic Grand Canyon oven. It was hot that I want to get to Cottonwood Campground as soon as possible, but the jaw dropping scenic views on every turn with a soothing stream that I want to take my time getting to Cottonwood Campground, I could not make up my mind. A hellish heat and a heavenly scenery such a paradox.

A rare sign inside Box Canyon, a lone cactus blooming in the middle of the summer heat from the words of Karl “Something so angry, is so beautiful!”

Every stream encounter, we stopped and cooled off, it felt great as our body temperature would drop. A few of minutes later, our soaked clothes would be dry and it was hot again. We soon reached a tough section where Colleen calls it “Arsehole” hill, Karl also calls it that and after running through that hill, I called it that.

So this it what it feels like to be baptized in the Grand Canyon, cooling off in one of the many streams along the way to Cottonwood Campground.

About 2 hours later, we finally made it to Cottonwood Campground and quickly passed through since our goal was filling our water and taking a break about a mile away in the Pumphouse. Eventually, we got to the Pumphouse where the water in the fountain was chilling cold, the water felt really good as we headed towards the beginning of the steep climb up the North Rim. At the same time, Colleen decided to change into flip flops and started running on them.

Colleen cooling off in the freezing water of the Pumphouse.

Colleen kicked up the pace up the steep North Rim as we passed through hikers that had that mystified look seeing Colleen hiking and running on flip flops. At this point, I was trying to keep up with Colleen’s pace and keeping my mind of the pain by gazing on the layers of rock formations and the shift from desert to alpine vegetation. Eventually after going through a series of steep never ending switchbacks, we finally made it up the North Rim where Colleen’s flip flop hiking was the talk of every hiker on the North Rim trail head. A couple from Pennsylvania offered us a ride to the North Rim Lodge and we quickly accepted.

Socks and Flipflop? It works just fine, just ask Colleen.

Civilization, Fancy Dinner, and R2R2R

We thanked the couple from Pennsylvania that dropped us off the North Rim Lodge, it was a much different scene compared to the Grand Canyon Village in the South Rim. There were tourists in the North Rim as well, but it had a much more peaceful and relaxing setting. Earlier that day, Karl sent us the reservation paper just in case we were able to make it to the North Rim first and see if we were able check in the lodge. After waiting in-line, Colleen was able to the keys to the cabin and we were able to get cleaned up to do more exploring on the trails up the North Rim. There were many trails to explore including the Trancept Trail or a short trail leading up to Bright Angel Point where the view was so amazing and was high enough to see the whole Grand Canyon all the way to the South Rim. At this viewpoint, I was able to see how big this Rim to Rim hike was.

The view of the Grand Canyon from Bright Angel Point

Colleen who has done the R2R2R hike over 16 times, knows the inside and outs and how hot it gets inside the canyons was getting a little worried, but a text from Karl and Christina saying they made safely up the North Rim was a relief. The heat down the canyons was a brutal one, Karl and Christina worked as a team and stayed in a group including opting to both walk from the North Rim all the way to the lodge when there was only one spot when they tried to hitch a ride to the lodge.

All smiles, the heat and steep climb up the North Rim can’t stop Karl and Christina.

We met up with Karl and Christina at the cabin, they are in high spirits and we all shared our stories as we headed down the lodge to watch the sunset. It was a sight to see when every tourist around you was off their phones watching silently and just staring at the sun setting in the Grand Canyon with that glowing awe in their faces.

The North Rim Lodge with the picturesque view of the Grand Canyon.

Karl had everything planned out including reserving a fancy dinner at the lodge. A Fancy dinner, sleeping comfortably, and the R2R2R adventure, all those does not add up, the amount of planning that Karl did to pull this off was simply extraordinary and I wanted to learn more and tried to pick out his brain at the adventuring planning realm. After dinner, we were able to sleep in and prepare for the last part of our R2R2R adventure which was heading back down the North Rim and back up to the South Rim.

Fancy Steak, Lamb, Pasta Dinner, wine, and R2R2R, say what???

Side adventure to Ribbon Falls and Chocolate Cakes

I woke up that morning with Karl on the phone confirming our dinner at Phantom Ranch making sure everything was all planned out, we all had a good sleep and woke up refreshed ready for more adventures. Karl and Christina went on ahead of us to get a head start going down the North Rim while we headed down to the North Rim store to refill our packs and eat breakfast. The North Rim Lodge is about 1.5 miles away from the trail of the North Rim, as soon as we got to the trail head, we started flying down the North Rim recklessly, but safely using trekking poles. The rim was very active early that morning with all sorts of activities going on such as mule rides and the conservationist working on the trails. The best way to describe going down the North Rim was its like I am looking at this master piece of a painting as I headed down.

The painting like view as we ran down the North Rim.

We were able to catch up with Karl and Christina about 3/4 of the way to Ribbon Falls. Colleen gave us a tour of the land marks and rocks names including Steve Harvey’s Rock. As we headed pass the Pumphouse and Cottonwood Campground, we strayed off for a side adventure towards Ribbon Falls.

The dropout views of the North Rim as we headed down to Ribbon Falls.

The temperatures was reaching over 100 at this point, we followed a stream and thick jungle like vegetation, the temperature began to slowly drop as we headed towards Ribbon Falls. It was another master piece of a view looking up the falls. Ribbon falls consist of two levels, the lower level which was a gentle waterfall flowing through a mossy wall and the upper level where it was rumbling and loud, we were able to get behind the waterfalls.

The lower section of Ribbon Falls.

It was hard to resist not to get soaked under the waterfalls, even Karl who wasn’t interested at first, joined in on the fun cooling off in the waterfalls. We stayed here for a while to snack and cool off to the point where I started shaking from the cold.

Karl and Colleen at the upper level of Ribbon Falls.

Karl and Christina went on ahead towards our next stop, Phantom Ranch. We soon followed afterwards, passing through my favorite section, Box Canyon. I was looking forward to going back here and being in between two 500 foot cliff walls with a stream on the right side of the trail, It was soothing to hear the stream and wind walking through this section. I was expecting a heat wave oven, but with such unpredictable weather in the Grand Canyon, it was cloudy and the temperature started to drop.

The view of Box Canyon on the way back to Phantom Ranch.

Karl and Christina was there waiting when we got to Phantom Ranch, we had a dinner of Vegetable Chili and Beef Stew. Colleen was telling me how hard the hike out the South Kaibab Rim was going to be and I ended up eating more Beef Stew than I would normally ate. I was full at this point and surprisingly, we were served chocolate cake for dessert! Chocolate Cake down in the rim and R2R2R, that is just too good to be true. We all had a slice and it was the best chocolate cake I have ever eaten. At this point of the hike, Karl and Christina was planning on staying on Phantom Ranch for the night while Colleen and I were heading out doing the hike up South Kaibab Trail at night.

Chocolate cake inside the Grand Canyon? Pinch me, I must be dreaming.

The Climb up South Kaibab Rim

My legs were tired and I was full from a hearty dinner down at Phantom Ranch heading up towards the South Kaibab Rim, it was 2 miles shorter than the Bright Angel Rim, but that equates to more steepness on the climb up the Rim. We crossed the black bridge with the roaring Colorado River underneath us, our progress was measured on how little that bridge become as we catch our breath and take in the scenic views.

The roaring Colorado River as we went back up the South Kaibab Trail.

As the sun slowly set over the horizon and darkness came, the stars began to fill the night sky. It was an amazing sight to see it in the Grand Canyon, I couldn’t explain it, I keep gazing up the stars as I went up with a smile. Physically, I was hurting from the never ending switch back and the steep climb up the south rim, but it was contradictory to how I am feeling, I was happy and smiling as I went up, I did not want the climb to end. As we reach half way through the rim, Nature’s drums, thunder started making music all over the canyons followed by flashes of lightning bolts lighting up the sky like fireworks. The whole grand canyon illuminated for a split second, I was enjoying every second of the light show up in the sky. I felt blessed and fortunate to be able to experience this, its like the canyons was feeding me the energy to keep on going, the pain and soreness on my legs was non existent at this point.

Having way too much fun reenacting the vomiting sign as we headed up South Kaibab Trail during the night.

The steeper it get, the better I felt. I became energized, ecstatic, and couldn’t stop talking about how awesome it was, Colleen suggested I should run up the rest of the way and burn it off. As we made it up to the final stretch to reach the top South Rim marking the end of the R2R2R hike, the quote from author Jules Renald came into mind throughout this whole adventure which was “On earth there is no heaven, but there are pieces of it” We were fortunate enough to experience a small piece of it in the Grand Canyon, not many get to experience this.

“On earth there is no heaven, but there are pieces of it” – Jules Renald. The view from the North Rim all the way to the South Rim. Mt. Humphreys, the tallest peak in Arizona standing over 12,635 feet can be seen over the horizon.

The next day Karl and Christina made it out of the Grand Canyon and completed R2R2R by taking the longer south rim in the Bright Angel Trail.

Spend the night at the North Rim Lodge and Dinner (reservation required)

Sunday (2 options)

North Rim to Phantom Ranch for Dinner then up South Kaibab Trail

North Rim to Phantom Ranch for Dinner and spend the night. (reservation required)

Monday

Phantom Ranch to either the South Kaibab Trail (no water) or the Bright Angel Trail (water access)

36.054445-112.140111

]]>https://hellyontherun.com/go/hiking/grand-canyon-r2r2r-part-deux-recap-day-2/
Thu, 02 Jun 2016 15:43:15 +0000hellyontherunhttps://hellyontherun.com/go/hiking/grand-canyon-r2r2r-part-deux-recap-day-2/If you missed my recap of Day 1 in which I crossed the Grand Canyon from South Rim to North Rim, you can check it out here.

The second day, the plan was to go back down the North Rim but then go back up the South Rim through Bright Angel Trail. I didn’t remember much from the first time doing the second day two years go because I was beat up exhausted, lol! So in a way, there was a lot of newness for me this time, which I liked.

Unlike going down the South Rim, going down the North Rim allows you to actually run if you wanted to. Last time I did this, I hardly ran at all, but this time, I was feeling pretty good and I was with my husband which automatically makes me feel safer and more adventurous. So as soon as our group started, we all bolted and ran down. All the way down. To Phantom Ranch. A little over 13 miles.

There were some not-so-safe sections where we did slow down…like here

Can you see me? #notafraidofheights

and here

Can you see what’s around that corner? Yeah, me either.

but really, the majority of the way down, we ran. It was just so freaking awesome running through the Grand Canyon. I mean, not many can say that they ran through the Grand Canyon!! It was exhilaratingly amazing. Surreal.

I was definitely sore from the day before but I just had an energy that I can’t describe. An energy that compelled me to keep going and run. I felt so strong and I might’ve not been going very fast, but I felt like a total badass.

There wasn’t much photo-taking or eating on the way down. Hardly at all, actually. I made sure to hydrate and we made one pit stop at Manzanita where I had to use the restroom. There, I munched on a snack, but we pretty much went the whole way without a whole lot to eat. We skipped the last stop, Cottonwood, and went the 7+ miles stretch all the way to Phantom Ranch.

You can see our route coming down from the North Rim to Phantom Ranch in this map

We were anxious to get to Phantom Ranch as we knew that once we got there, we’d eat and then begin our climb out. But when we got there, we realized we had to go through security.

Shhh!!! There’s a deer over there!

There was a beautiful deer blocking the trail to Phantom Ranch!! We waited a bit and then the deer went running off.

We hung out for about 20 minutes or so, not long all, eating some Beef Jerky and drinking some lemonade. We refilled our packs, and headed out! I thought I’d want more rest but really, I was ready to go. I knew the heat awaited us and the later it got, the worse it would be.

From Phantom Ranch, you can go back up through the South Rim Trail (where we started yesterday) or you can go back up through Bright Angel Trail, which is what we had planned to do. I remembered from my last crossing, that we would be exposed to the sun for most of the climb up.

People ask me if going up the North Rim is harder than going up the South Rim (through either trail) and honestly, each is its own beast. Going up the North Rim for me is difficult because you’re talking about going straight up. You’re covered though, as there are a lot of trees lining the way but it doesn’t make that climb any easier.

The South Rim/Bright Angel Trail is difficult because of the sun. So not only are you going up, up, up, you’re doing it with the heat on your back. If I had to choose though, I’d say going up the first day (South and up through North) is harder.

Anyway, we hit Bright Angel Trail and were on our way.

Go up this way! :)

Crossing the Colorado

Like I mentioned earlier, I had forgotten most of the second day since the last time I crossed, and one of the things I completely didn’t remember was the soft sand that made the up climb even harder.

What is this sand you speak of?

It was so weird to see this soft beach sand at the bottom of the Grand Canyon but it made sense since the trail was right with the water. The trail wasn’t sandy the entire way up but you’d see it in parts along the way, even allll the way up.

We took a pit stop along the way to get some of the sand out of our shoes and eat a snack. Then we noticed that the upness we had been doing started to go back down and we met the water again. This was so disheartening because we really thought we beginning our ascent and now it felt like we were starting over.

But onward we went. I kept on telling my husband that Devil’s Corkscrew awaited us–some not so very nice switchbacks–and I waited for them but really, everything started to look the same to me that when we reach a flat landing where we could look down, we had already passed it!

I was so tired. The heat was beating on me and I felt like I couldn’t drink enough water. I had been taking salt tabs the entire way and I had some sugar candy so I didn’t feel malnutritioned; it was just the accumulation of two tough days of climbing.

Very little pictures were taken going up. It was like last time where I really just wanted a Coke. I was ready to be at the top.

We reached Indian Gardens, finally, which was our last big stop. We filled up our water packs one last time and took a quick look at the map–4.8 miles to go. Hours.

I was losing steam and beginning to feel bummed, but then my husband would say something funny and I would remember how much I loved having him there.

When you get closer to the top, you start to see a lot of tourists who come down a few miles. It got to be very crowded and I wanted a sign that said, “I’ve been climbing for 20 miles!!! Get out of my way!!!” Some groups would take the entire trail and not pull aside for uphill climbers.

We made a turn and then I could finally see the top top and it was a glorious sight. It was a ways away, but I could see it.

Looking back at what we crossed and kinda sorta done with pictures, lol

I was renewed with energy at having seen the finish line and I picked up my pace. Finally, after many many miles–over 45 in two days–we were done!

The smile that is the elevation map of a Grand Canyon Crossing :)

I sat down on a bench and became overwhelmed with emotion. I held my husband’s hand as I let the tears flow. I was so happy. So happy to have shared this amazing experience with him. This would be something we both could have together, forever.

A woman nearby asked if everything was okay and my husband told her we had just finished a double crossing in two days. She begin applauding me and then told the people she was with who begin applauding as well. A mini crowd of people began applauding, and I smiled a “thank you” through my tears. It was such a special moment.

Crossing the Grand Canyon is something life-changing. It really is. You test your body and mind and when you make it to other side, you really feel like you can do anything. It’s hard of course, and yes, the climbs are difficult, the heat makes it worse; there are snakes, insects, animals, along the way–but you push through all of that. You find something within yourself to make it happen. I know that my husband gave me a lot strength, but he didn’t cross for me. I did. Like so many hard things in life, you just do it.

You just do it.

Thank you all so much for following my crazy adventures. As I’ve said many times, I’m so grateful to have this little corner of the web world to document my journeys. If you have any questions about crossing the Grand Canyon, feel free to shoot me an e-mail and I’ll help as much as I can. Don’t think this is something you can’t do. <3 , helly

It was absolutely incredible and I’m sitting on my couch super sore as I write this, lol! Before I get to the amazingness that was crossing the Grand Canyon twice, I just want to relay the “boring” stuff first–what I packed, what I ate, what some of the places I visited are called, etc. Maybe it will be useful for someone planning a trip soon.

This pack is uh-mazing. I wrote about it here. It has a 70 oz reservoir which I refilled several times while I crossed.

I love this pack because it’s got a lot of room for storage and it has storage pockets in front for easy access to stuff you’ll use regularly (cell phone, gels, etc.)

What Was Inside

-Emergency card and ID
-Cash (for lemonade when we reached Phantom Ranch)
-My glasses (in case something happened to my contacts)
-Chapstick
-Hand sanitizer
-Tissue
-Sunglasses
-Jacket (rolled up when not in use and on outside of pack–see pic above)
-Phone (for pictures-there is no service down there, lol)
-Hiking poles (on outside of pack-you’d be fine w/o poles but they sure do help)

I ate all of my food the first day I crossed, but had a lot left over the second as the second day goes a lot faster.

I mentioned that I refilled my reservoir several times. There are water stops along the Canyon that allows for that. It’s recommend you bring your own filter but I didn’t both times I crossed and was fine.

You can see from the map on the left and the key on the right that there are water stops along the way.

What “R2R2R” means

Rim to rim to rim is what R2R2R stands for. It means you go from one rim of the Canyon to the other and back again. You can see there are two routes you can take coming from the South Rim–Bright Angel Trail or South Kaibab Trail.

The first day, we went from South Kaibab Trail to North Kaibab Trail with a pit stop at Ribbon Falls and it took us roughly 11 hours. The second day, we went from North Kaibab up through Bright Angel Trail and it took us around 9 hours.

The first day is “hardest” because going up to the North Rim is brutal. The second day is difficult because going up Bright Angel Trail leaves you exposed to the sun for hours. The whole thing is an awesome sufferfest.

We did NOT double cross on the same day, lol!

Where We Slept

There is a nice lodge/motel at the South Rim near the entrance to Bright Angel Trail. We stayed there Saturday night before we started the first day Sunday morning. The rooms were like a regular motel and very comfortable. They had a “cafeteria” type-esque place to eat with different types of food–Mexican, Pasta, Grilled.

At the North Rim, we stayed at a little cabin at the Grand Canyon Lodge. They have a restaurant where you can eat and also a smaller “deli”. We ate at the deli.

The above picture is a lounge area where you can see the views of the Canyon. There’s also an outside deck:

I would totally recommend visiting this place if you just want to “see” the Canyon and not actually go inside it, lol. You do have to make reservations if you want to eat in the restaurant though; the deli you can just walk in. You also don’t need to be staying at the lodge if you want to eat.

Okay, that’s enough of the “boring” stuff. I’ll whip up the awesome details/pictures of the actual crossing here in the next couple of days.

]]>https://rewindselectorblog.wordpress.com/go/uncategorized/dark-start-dark-finish-on-the-rim-to-rim-to-rim-run/
Tue, 03 May 2016 19:22:27 +0000rewindselectorbloghttps://rewindselectorblog.wordpress.com/go/uncategorized/dark-start-dark-finish-on-the-rim-to-rim-to-rim-run/As we ran over the South Rim of the Grand Canyon in the dark early last November, I knew better than the rest of the group the danger presented by patches of packed snow and ice left from a storm earlier in the week. The others arrived at the canyon by van the night before after flying from Missoula to […]

As we ran over the South Rim of the Grand Canyon in the dark early last November, I knew better than the rest of the group the risk presented by patches of packed snow and ice left from a storm earlier in the week.

The others arrived at the canyon by van the night before after flying from Missoula to Las Vegas, while Jen and I drove south and spent most of the week there hiking and sightseeing. Two days before the run – the morning after it snowed – it was clear that a slip or a step too far to the side of the South Kaibab Trail could result in a fall down a cliff.

I don’t think snow was on anybody’s mind back in Missoula months earlier, when we received the invitation to run the well-known double crossing of the canyon by email. Certainly, the distance (about 46 miles), the elevation gain (more than 10,000 feet), heat and water availability were.

Fortunately, the snow and ice lasted only a few switchbacks into the run, and the worse trail conditions higher on the North Rim were encountered at midday.

In the end, everybody made it out of the canyon safe – some completing the full R2R2R, some going Rim to River, some turning around early and one getting a ride back from the North Rim.

After being dropped off about 5 a.m. at the intersection of Desert View Drive and Yaki Point Road, where a gate keeps private vehicles from reaching the South Kaibab trailhead, we set out by headlamp.

About half a mile beyond the gate, we entered the canyon at 7,260 feet.

At Skeleton Point about 3 miles down to the north, another runner and I found ourselves out ahead of the main group with a faint glow backlighting the top of the canyon to the east. I had never met him before and was concerned about the pace the rest of the day, so slowed a bit in the hope of letting the others catch up.

The other runner pulled away as the bottom of the canyon grew lighter, and I was on my own when I stepped out of the tunnel onto the Black Bridge crossing the muddy Colorado River at 2,480 feet.

About a third of a mile west, I crossed Bright Angel Creek and and went through the lush green Bright Angel Campground at 7 miles before returning to the east side at Phantom Ranch. Taking a cue from people in the camp and at the ranch, I ate some food as I walked through the area.

Running northeast from the ranch, I crossed the creek several times as I followed it upstream through a narrow section of the North Kaibab Trail known as The Box. High above, I could see the first sunlight reaching rocky points.

Out of The Box, I passed Ribbon Falls off the west side of the creek and continued up the trail to Cottonwood Campground, about 7 miles from the ranch. Looking back, I still couldn’t see the rest of the Missoula group, and a handful of other runners I encountered along the way said it had been a while since the one person ahead of me passed.

Almost 1.5 miles beyond the campground and after a few small cascades, I crossed the creek at the Pumphouse Ranger Station and the trail began to climb steeply northwest into the Roaring Springs drainage. As the trail rose along sunny cliffs, I passed a group running Rim to Rim from north to south.

After crossing a bridge and ascending several switchbacks, I reached Supai Tunnel, about 1.7 miles below the North Kaibab trailhead. Above the tunnel, the trail left the cliffs and entered the shade of the forest, where the final switchbacks were covered by a thick layer of snow and ice.

As I reached the trailhead at 8,241 feet and 21 miles from the start, I caught up to a couple of other runners and we chatted as we ate and refilled our hydration packs from an icy spigot.

Just as I was getting ready to follow the other runners back down the trail, three friends from Missoula reached the top, so I waited – it would be nice not being alone on the way back across.

As the four of us started back down the North Kaibab Trail, we passed all the other runners from Missoula who would reach the rim above Supai Tunnel. At the bridge below the tunnel, we passed a few more who turned around based on the time of day.

After that, we descended quickly, one person dropping off as we backtracked through the canyon.

The three of us who remained followed a short side trail across Bright Angel Creek to Ribbon Falls, and as we bushwhacked back we found two other Missoula runners who were extending their Rim to River route.

Across the creek on the main trail again, our group of five continued down through The Box to Phantom Ranch, where we met other Rim to River runners from Missoula and stopped to eat – and drink one of the best cups of lemonade in memory.

After departing the ranch and campground, one Rim to River runner stayed with the three of us making the double crossing as the others outpaced us up the Bright Angel Trail.

A short distance downriver, we crossed the Silver Bridge to the south side of the Colorado and continued to River Resthouse, 1.5 miles from the campground. There, the trail began to climb.

As the daylight faded, we moved steadily up the trail for the next 3.2 miles, through the cottonwoods and cliffs of the Garden Creek drainage to Indian Garden Campground. Noticing I had a signal on my cellphone, I sent Jen a text message updating her on our progress.

Above the campground, we began the arduous ascent of the final steep switchbacks up the cliffs to the South Rim.

After passing the Three Mile and Mile and a Half resthouses, we stopped to put on our headlamps as darkness set in. Looking over the edge of the cliff, a line of lights along the trail below turned our way – we had inadvertently shown other hikers and runners how far up they still had to go.

The final mile was slow, but we still passed numerous hikers on the popular trail. And I pulled ahead slightly at the end, officially becoming the second R2R2R runner from the Missoula group to reach the Bright Angel trailhead, about 46 miles and 13 hours 12 minutes after starting.

Jen greeted me with news that she made it to the river and back on a toe she broke before our trip, then gathered the four of us who made the final climb out together for a photo.

To our surprise, one friend who we thought would be the final person from Missoula to complete the double crossing was there, too. He had done the run before, and realizing his slow progress this time, got a ride back from the North Rim on one of the last shuttles of the season – which conveniently arrived there about the same time he did.

The next few hours were spent greeting other runners at the trailhead, getting cleaned up in our nearby cabins, and celebrating the day with dinner and drinks at the Bright Angel Lodge.

After breakfast the next morning, Jen and I started driving back north while the others returned to Vegas and celebrated another night before flying home. Talk of making a destination run an annual tradition started soon after we arrived back in Missoula.

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Fri, 05 Jun 2015 15:55:06 +0000hellyontherunhttps://hellyontherun.com/go/running/where-is-running-taking-me-this-time-the-friday-five/So, Wednesday was National Running Day and I posted how I had done some pre-celebrating, I celebrated the day of, and I’m continuing the celebration by sharing with you:

Where is Running Taking Helly now??

I’m linking up with the DC Trifecta Ladies Mar, Cynthia, and Courtney on their Friday Five to share with you the new (and old) places I’ll be heading to this year and next :)

If you’ve been a reader for a while, you know I’ve been able to see and go to some fabulous places and run–(ahem, can I go back to Spain please?). I’ve got some news to share:

1. Mt. Humphreys

I love me some trail running/hiking and last year I was lucky enough to hike the Grand Canyon and complete R2R2R. Mt. Humphreys is also in Arizona and it’s actually the highest point in the state with an elevation of 12,637ft!

Humphreys Trail is steep and long and extremely rocky in its higher reaches. Above treeline it exposes you completely to the whims of nature. Here it may snow during any month of the year. In late summer monsoon storms can set the high country snapping with lightning. Be prepared to turn around and head for lower ground if a thunderstorm is brewing!

Once you do reach the summit ridge you’ll feel like you’re standing on top of the world. Off in the distance, the Grand Canyon, the Painted Desert, the mesas that are home to the Hopi Indians the Verde Valley and Oak Creek Canyon form a 360 degree panorama. And after you’ve seen it you’ll be able to say you’ve been as high as you can get in Arizona.

To say I’m excited is an understatement! I’ll be making this trek in August (with my husband!) and I CANNOT wait!

I’ve never been to Canada but in September, that’s where I’ll be! My husband has a work trip out there and he’s decided this would be a great opportunity for me to meet him and explore together.

I’ve heard about some great trails in and near Vancouver and I’m looking forward to finding and choosing one to do. I actually came across a blogger who wrote about a trail in Vancouver she really liked. I got so excited and commented how I was going to be there in a few months but do you think I wrote down the trail she took? Or her blog site? (I had done a google search.) Though, I’m sure I won’t have any trouble finding somewhere to run, so don’t you worry :)

3. Chicago Marathon

Ahhh!!!! I’m so freaking excited about this one!!! As you know, I’m raising money for the Ronald McDonald House (donate here if you’re so inclined <3 ) and so far, it has been such an incredible time. I’ve gotten to know people fundraising through the Facebook page and we get weekly e-mails of motivation from the team leaders. We were even provided with a training schedule that I liked so much I’ve decided to follow it instead of my usual Hal.

It’s also going to be my husband’s first marathon which adds to the specialness of this race. He is amazing, so supportive, and I’m just completely a mess over this guy. I’m so excited for him to go through the journey of training for a marathon and running one and seeing how much it changes you. He’s seen it change me.

4. USA Half Marathon Invitational: San Diego, CA

You might have heard about this new race being billed the “Boston” of 1/2 Marathons. It’s a 1/2 marathon that requires a qualifying time to register. The times are generous (I still think it’s tough lol!) because of its newness but I anticipate–and the race says so itself–the times will become more competitive as the race increases in popularity.

With so many fun runs, mud runs, and color runs being launched nationwide, we noticed a decline in the production of competitive endurance events in the United States. This race was developed to encourage recreational runners to set new goals and challenges for themselves. The USA Half Marathon is the first “Qualifiers Only” half marathon, designed for elite, sub-elite, and competitive runners.

Runners receive a qualifier’s jacket (ala Boston), a medal, and a finisher’s certificate.

The race is in San Diego in November. Now, San Diego is only a 6 hour drive from Phoenix but I’ve never been there! I’m pretty pumped that my first San Diego race will be an inaugural one and one that I think will be a pretty sweet race.

5. R2R2R (again!)

I’m heading back to the Canyon!!!!!

I said the only way I’d ever do this again was if my husband did it with me. Well, he’s been getting pretty into this running business and agreed to go with me next year! So, R2R2R 2016 will happen!

It’s not a race and we don’t run the entire thing, nor do we complete it in one day (although you can and some in my group have!) If you’re a new reader, you can check out my posts describing this 2 day adventure of 20+ miles a day, here and here.

the edge of glory

I’m so excited about my running future. Even more so because it’s become my husband’s too–all 5 things I named we’ll be doing together!!! With the exception of Vancouver, we’ll also be doing all of this awesomeness with my running group AZTNT. This group has become my family, and I’ve been able to do some amazing things because of them and I’m so, so very grateful.

And there you have it!! With running, you never know where you’ll be heading to next! :)

I hope all of you have a great weekend!! <3 , helly

–Any exciting race-cations planned?

–Which of the 5 interest you? Would you want to cross the Grand Canyon twice?

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Sat, 09 May 2015 22:29:47 +0000Mikehttps://mkebell.wordpress.com/go/running/a-grand-adventure/https://hellyontherun.com/go/running/my-5-fave-racing-trips-link-up/
Fri, 10 Apr 2015 13:13:59 +0000hellyontherunhttps://hellyontherun.com/go/running/my-5-fave-racing-trips-link-up/Last year was definitely the year of race-cations. I feel like I was all over the place (because I was!) This week’s DC Trifecta link up topic is 5 Trips so I’ll share (again lol!) some of the places I visited last year (and some places I plan to visit this year :) )

1. I still can’t believe I ran a 1/2 marathon in Madrid, Spain. Sometimes, I look at that album and seriously am shocked that that happened. But it did and it was absolutely amazing. I recapped the race here but some memorable things from the race were

-how awesome it was to be half way around the world and be able to speak the language. Both my husband and I are fluent Spanish speakers :)

-how plastic water bottles were given at each water station. Bottled water is so expensive in Europe that as soon as I saw a PR was nowhere near possible, I started hoarding water bottles and ran with one in each hand the entire way lol!

-how there were ZERO porta-potties. Men just pulled up to the side and did their thing but the women had to find a restaurant or shop to use the bathroom!

Madrid was our first stop in our Europe tour and we started off with a bang

One of my fave race pics — having fun doing what I love (and in Spain!)

2. When I got back from Europe, I decided to cross the Grand Canyon twice lol! Doing Rim 2 Rim 2 Rim was such an incredible experience. I had never been to the Grand Canyon and to go and do that was amazing. I recapped the double crossings here and here.

The Grand Canyon is a must see if you’re Arizona and if you’re planning on visit, why not cross the whole thing? :)

Day 1: South Kaibab to North Kaibab. Day 2: North Kaibab to Bright Angel.

the edge of glory

at the “finish line” of the Canyon :)

3. My bucket list marathon was the Marine Corps Marathon in our nation’s capitol, Washington, D.C. I’m a big history buff so running a race there would unite to of my passions: running and history. I wrote about this race and how it met ALL of my high expectations here (and a little more here). The cherry on the top of this race last October was also meeting my BRF Salt <3 The day couldn’t have been better.

4. I mentioned just last week how I plan on going to Cincinatti, Ohio to run the Flying Pig 1/2 Marathon.

So if anyone had told me my brother would run a 1/2 marathon…I would have snorted and said, “Yeah, when pigs….yeah….”

This race is special because it will by my brother’s first half and I NEVER thought he’d run a half marathon. Ever. I’m so pumped about it, I can’t even explain it lol! Just this past weekend he texted me a pic of his 7 miler. I’m so ridiculously proud of him.

I’ve heard a lot of good things about this race and you bet I’ve checked out the elevation chart–I’m ready for you hills! (well not really, but yeah)

Helloooo hills!!

5. Finally, my fall marathon this year will be in……CHICAGO!! My run club is organizing a group to run the Chicago Marathon and my husband and I have put our names in the lottery–all our fingers are crossed we get in.

I’m still gunning for a sub 4:30 and I’m hoping, hoping, hoping it happens in Chicago. If not, I plan on maybe trying ONE MORE TIME in Phoenix Spring 2016 and if it still doesn’t happen, I’m putting up my marathon running shoes for a while. Marathon training is no joke and this momma is TIE-ERD.

So, there you have it! Some places I’ve been ridiculously lucky to visit and two that I’m super pumped to check out this year.

If you’ve never been to the Grand Canyon, you really need to go. No seriously, like RIGHT NOW! It doesn’t matter that we’ve all seen it in countless photos, videos and movies, including the iconic final scene in Thelma and Louise. It’s truly a magical place that’s beyond description and to see it in person will blow you away.

My original intention wasn’t to go to the Grand Canyon on this trip. The plan was to relax and do some bird watching in southern Arizona. I’d discovered birding a few years ago and found that it’s a nice complement to my love of nature and travel. Plus, it’s a very civilized activity for a middle aged dude such as myself.

But this plan changed when I bumped into the owners of Animal Athletics. They had just gotten back from doing the Rim to Rim to Rim (R2R2R) in the Grand Canyon. The R2R2R is a run from the South Rim, down to the Colorado River, up the North Rim and then back again. It’s about 46 miles roundtrip with more than 11,000 feet of elevation gain and loss. These guys made it sound like it was a life-altering experience and an absolute rite of passage for ultrarunners. Oh well, so much for the bird watching.

With my flight leaving in less than a week I didn’t have much time to work out the logistics or to train for the specific demands of the route. The R2R2R has a little bit of everything: technical trail, exposure, long distance, high altitude, extreme heat, and two huge ascents/descents. But other than that, it’s pretty straightforward.

The fastest known time for the route was set by ultrarunning stud, Rob Krar, in 6 hrs. 21 mins. I was thinking (hoping) it would take me about twice that long. To get a real sense of the scale and beauty of the run, check out this VIDEO.

My adventure began on April 3rd (Good Friday) while waiting for the shuttle to the South Kaibab trailhead. The temperature was in the 20’s and I thought I was going to freeze to death in my thin little running shorts and windbreaker. But by 6:30am I was on the trail, slowly warming up and working my way towards the river. The South Kaibab trail is a steeper more direct route to the river and because it’s along a ridgeline, has 360 degree views.

One of the biggest challenges was to NOT check out the view while running. Every step on the rocky trail is a potential twisted ankle, so there would be no multitasking. If I wanted to look, I had to stop.

Both the South Kaibab and the more popular, Bright Angel Trail, connect the South Rim with the river. I thought it would be fun to start off with the lesser-traveled South Kaibab and then finish with the Bright Angel, when most of the tourist traffic was done for the day.

At about 2 hours I crossed the river and soon thereafter was at the Phantom Ranch, a historic lodge built in 1922. All guests must arrive either on foot, raft or mule. These cool rustic cabins often get booked up more than a year in advance. I was surprised to see they had a little canteen, so I took advantage of the situation and bought some pretzels and a Snickers. From here it was 14 miles and nearly 7,000 feet of elevation gain till the North Rim. Those extra calories would definitely come in handy.

This next section was pure bliss: smooth, mostly flat trail winding along an idyllic creek in a narrow box canyon. I got into a flow state and the miles passed easily. After the Cottonwood Campground the grade steepened and I had to switch to power hike mode. As I got closer to the North Rim you could see the flora slowly change from desert cactus to alpine fir and birch.

I got to the North Rim in 6 hrs. 30 min. and even though I was pretty wiped out it was a relief to know that I was halfway done. There was still some lingering patches of snow, but I was happy to see that there was running water from the spigot at the trailhead. I chugged a bottle of water to celebrate.

It was 14 miles from here to the river, all downhill. My goal was to run at a modest, but consistent pace and not take any breaks. The canteen closed at 4pm and another Snicker would have really hit the spot.

It’s funny how the same trail can feel so different just a few hours later. I now had gravity to my advantage, but nevertheless, the cumulative fatigue was starting to take its toll. I never run with an iPod, but this would have been a good time for some inspiring music, maybe Chariots of Fire or the Rocky soundtrack.

It was 5pm when I finally arrived at Phantom Ranch. The canteen and their stash of Snickers was closed for the night. And to make matters worse the guests were all hanging out drinking beer while their steak dinners were being barbecued. It was a cruel form of torture.

As I crossed the river once again, I told myself that there was good news (less than 10 miles to go) and bad news (all uphill). Plus only about two more hours of daylight. I powerhiked this next section up to the Indian Garden campground, where I met a nice Canadian couple. They gave me a chocolate chip Cliff Bar and told me about a great pizza place right outside of the park. They weren’t sure what time it closed, but if I really pushed it maybe I could make it.

It’s a challenge to stay motivated once darkness sets in. Nothing to see, but the bubble of light emitting from your headlamp. As I got closer to the top, the light from the full moon began peeking over the rim. Eventually it got so bright that I didn’t need my headlamp at all.

It’s easy to feel sorry for yourself near the end of the long hard day, but here I was about to complete an epic adventure in the Grand Canyon under the light of the full moon. It doesn’t get much better than that.

As I drove into Tusayan, I knew the pizza place would already be closed. The only other choices were Texaco station hot dogs or the ramen back at my campsite. Neither option very appealing.

But wait, what is that on the horizon? Are those golden arches just a mirage? I hadn’t eaten at McDonald’s in years, but was thrilled to see that it was still open. The Quarter Pounder meal with its savory/salty mix of carbs, fat and protein was just what my body needed. I even went back through the drive thru again to pick up a chocolate shake for dessert. Thank you McDonald’s! You saved my life and I promise to never make fun of you again.

This has been an incredible year for me personally and in my running life. I honestly don’t think I’ll ever have such an amazing year as this and I don’t even want to try. This year will be its own very special year in which I accomplished so much and did so much…

This was a special race because it was the first race my brother, sister, and I ran ever ran together. My 6’2, 300lb brother crossed the finished line at a veerrry respectable 33 something! And I placed second in my age group with my shiny new PR of 24:18 :)

Okay, first, I never thought I’d ever visit Europe. Second, I neeever thought I’d run a race in Europe! But, the opportunity presented itself this year and my husband and I found ourselves running a 1/2 marathon through the streets of Spain

The Fiesta Bowl 1/2 Marathon proved to me that I can do hard things. It was seriously a tale of two races as the first half of the half, I struggled and was about to throw in the towel on trying to get my second sub 2 race of the year. But then a light switched on at mile 7 and I ran the rest of the race a different person finishing with a brand new, incredible, half marathon PR

Best!

14. Last, but not least…1000 miles!

On the dot!

Such an incredible year for me. I’ve been having a blast blogging and while sometimes life gets busy and I can’t do it as much as I’d like, I appreciate all of you who have shared this journey with me. So looking forward to 2015!!!